Source: [Design Document r14 / ec1b6c](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Design%20Document?revision=ec1b6c), §§5–6 and 13; [PMR003 / 72c692](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Pm%20Reviews/Pmr003?revision=72c692). [Design Index](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Design%20Index) · [Expansion Brief](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Expansion%20Brief) · [Glossary](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Glossary).

**Trigger.** Select Arc and start a burst with its linked battery full. An empty/partial battery refuses without cost. The player's decision is when and where to spend a fixed burst; automatic primary hits supply its attack events. One cell plus its own one-cell battery; it cannot share the coil's bank during combat.

**Effect and target.** For about ten seconds, direct Cutter hits conduct damaging arcs through a dense group of nearby organisms. Propose at most three additional enemies per direct hit, each at most once for that hit, with each hop requiring proximity and line of sight. This finite cap is an EQP101 request to Combat, not an adopted targeting rule. Arc hits cannot retrigger Arc, apply weapon displacement, or energize machinery/water. Body-to-body damage and world-power injection remain different effects with different cues.

**Fuel and restrictions.** Commit exactly one full bank per burst, draining ten to zero over its fixed duration. That battery accepts no pickups during the burst; early interruption loses its remaining committed fuel. Another eligible bank may collect under the [priority rule](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Mechanics/Inventory%20And%20Charge#e3-player-selected-collection-priority-independent-of-cell-order). Kills yield only from organisms that have not already shed. Switching targets cannot extend the burst; no eligible host hit means fuel is still being spent.

**Compatibility recommendation.** Keep Arc **Cutter-only** for this first catalogue. Rivet Driver already penetrates multiple targets; Prod provides displacement. Letting all hosts inherit chain damage as well would erode their costs and complicate hit/chain ordering. Universal compatibility is a credible alternative with more combinations; prefer an explicit host choice now, then widen only if Combat can preserve a reason to choose Cutter. Item inspection names the restriction, and fitting warns if the selected primary cannot trigger it. No silent inactive slot.

**Information and cost.** Show bank commitment, remaining seconds and eligible host before activation; distinguish direct hits from bounded chain links. Damage, reach, hit intervals and exact target tie-breaking belong to Combat. Spending against scattered enemies wastes most of the potential; gathering remaining motes can require re-entering pursuit range. This is designed crowd-clearing opportunity, not a promise of mowing speed or balance.

**Combinations and keep reason.** Coil gathers charge from a fresh wet crowd, but those stunned organisms cannot pay for the Arc afterward; reserve fuel must already exist. Beacon can concentrate enemies without making them shed; choose it instead of Coil for a charge-yielding kill window at greater exposure. Battery + Arc + Cutter remains useful late for a dry route where Coil cannot harvest. The early Cutter stays a real host, not a discarded tutorial weapon.

**Acquisition.** Optional clearly marked electrical-tool cache after the player can inspect a battery link and find fresh stragglers; no requirement to solve an essential clue first. Inspection records the recipe, then workshop choice or electrical caches. It is found empty of fuel. [Build Paths](/Hold%20The%20Flood/Equipment/Build%20Paths) gives the battery and branch choices.

A held crowd has spread along a dry branch. The player starts the burst while only one pursuer is within chaining distance. Cutter still attacks, but few or no extra enemies are eligible and the ten-second commitment runs out. Wait for a denser doorway, use a beacon to change the approach, or keep the bank for escape. No recharge rule rescues an ill-timed burst. Against a water-stunned crowd, an eight-second stun cannot contain the whole ten-second burst: the closing seconds require movement or space as enemies recover.