Lightning Gun

The Thunderbolt, known in modern Quake parlance as the Lightning Gun or Shaft is one of the two traditionally most effective weapons (the other being the RL). (All weapons become effective with Quad, and recently other weapons have gained popularity as finishing (SSG, SNG) and setup (GL) weapons.)

Detailed stats
The LG shoots 30 damage points worth of lightning at a rate of one every 0.1 seconds, totaling 1200 damage points per 4 seconds. Extrapolated to common shafting accuracies, this comes out to:
 * 20% - 240 damage per 4 seconds.
 * 30% - 360 damage per 4 seconds.
 * 40% - 480 damage per 4 seconds.
 * 50% - 600 damage per 4 seconds.

Compared to the RL, which usually averages between 300 and 450 damage dealt for the same period of time, the above numbers make the LG a slightly worse main choice than the RL for beginners, but a very effictive (sometimes much more effective than RL) weapon for those who are considered "LG specialists" (or "LG hamsters").

The LG is a moderately difficult weapon, employing three degrees of freedom (two if it is modified by Quad) which are: horizontal, vertical, and time. Time is a main factor in aiming the LG, because (unless Quaded), it will take at least 3-4 seconds to kill an armed opponent in which time he/she can move quite a long way. This degree of difficulty makes the LG an easier weapon than the RL (this balancing it for beginners vs it's slightly lower damage output), and a more difficult weapon than the railgun of other Quake series (which only has two degrees of freedom).