Remove reloading and charges from the LR and adjust the overheat mechanics to balance it (for example, heat could build quickly and decrease slowly and instead of reloading you flush excess heat).

Make it part of Amarr laser weapons that they are self sufficient, omitting the need for Nanohives to do anything other than rep armour.

They are the worst rifles at short range. Why not make them the longest range Rifles to compensate? Rail rifles spit on laser rifles right now. It should be that if I can get out of his optimal I would likely win.

They are the worst weapons at short range. Why not make them the best at long range to compensate? The other rifles spit on laser rifles right now. It should be that if I can get out of their optimal I would likely win.

You know this is an interesting idea. I wanted to scream "NO" because needing no ammo or reload is insanity...I mean it MUST use something right?

But if you left it nearly in the current state but gave the unlimited ammo no reload thing it would become such an interesting niche weapon.

How should we fix the laser rifle?

I'm for the increase of heat build up idea and for an ACOG sight1.5x with a REAL DOT, not something like this " . " CCP dev team just took the scrambler rifle's scope and put it on the laser rifle with no changes (a little lazy in my opinion). Why not use a practical dot which will ease the targeting of an enemy when aiming down the sight, something like these ones:

1. \ ^ /
2. [ -ñ ]
3. { v } ---> (this one will be good for a sustained fire on the head)
4. (- -¦ -)
5. -| _'_ |- ---> (I keep this one for fast enemies, Minmatar assault and scouts)

With a simple " . " it's too hard to follow a moving target with the beam, I'm obliged to fire with the hipfire cross, this one " o " which is more effective than ADS. Come on CCP, I just showed 5 dots which are good for the scope, show us that you guys can make a real efficient one. By the way, the previous iron sight was great on the laser rifle.

[quote=Amarok Noir]

( . ' . )

It leaves an empty area for easy target acquisition, and the center of the sight is almost natural to keep mind of. Its almost as if your brain naturally triangulates and there is an invisible dot there.

1.7 is here, the AR and SCR got a range buff, and the rail rifle is now the king of ranged combat aside from the sniper rifle. The laser rifle has lost its already questionable niche.

Problems with the laser rifle

Low damage up close, then it gets good, then it gets crappy again. The band of effective range on the laser beam is only 66-88 meters, that's only a 23 meter effective range. Basically this weapon is only good for only a specific 23 meters, otherwise it sucks. Its also just counter-intuitive that a gun would do less damage up close; sure you can say its because of the focus on the laser's lenses, but it makes no sense why the lenses wouldn't already be focused.

Even when in its optimal or effective range, the rail rifles can still dominate the laser rifle users with their range. A rail rifle's range can be from 85 to 102 meters depending on the tier. An advanced or prototype rail rifle has the range advantage over a laser rifle. Unlike the laser rifle, the rail rifle doesn't suddenly start doing less damage at close ranges.

Overheat damage increments with tier. This is just terrible, higher tier weapons are suppose to be better than their lower tier predecessors, not just better in some ways but worse in some ways. Overheat damage needs to be the same for all tiers, or should get lower as the tier increases.

Solutions

Make the optimal range start from 0 meters like any other gun. This will make the laser rifle actually not worthless in close range, and allow it to be useful for more than just a short 23 meters of distance. You may be thinking "but the laser rifle is meant to be for mid-long range", but so is the sniper rifle, but shots do full damage if you can hit the target at close range. The base damage can also be lowered if needed.

Obviously the range thing would be a huge buff, and might make the laser rifle OP. To balance it, damage buildup should not be based on how long the laser has fired, but how long it has been hitting the target. The longer you hit the target, the more damage should increase. The heat buildup on the target should decrease slowly when the laser stops hitting it, but should not automatically reset. It will reward precise aiming skill, and also makes sense because the laser should be heating up the enemy's from continuous fire.

Standardize overheat feedback damage, or reduce the feedback damage as the tier increases. Higher tier weapons should not perform worse in any way to their standard counterparts.

Save the laser rifle.