John Demonsbane wrote:Laser rifle techniques for fun and profit
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More importantly, however, the key thing to know about the laz0r, and what makes it unique, is that it does more damage the longer you hold the trigger. (as the in-game hint says, GÇ£Continuous fire increases damage output.GÇ¥)
Things that do not increase damage include: 1) The amount of heat on the heat gauge. 2) The amount of time you keep the beam on your target. These are both common misconceptions. It bears repeating: Nothing besides holding the trigger down as long as possible will increase your damage output. Always fire with the heat gauge at zero, and donGÇÖt let go until you are thisclose to overheating!
What this means in practice is that you actually do not want to hit your target right away (unless your primary goal is suppressive fire). If you do, you will not be putting out enough damage and they will be able to get into cover before you can finish them off.
So, what you need to do is intentionally miss until you are maybe 1/3-1/2 way up the heat gauge before you actually hit your target (depending on how many targets you have). This is commonly known as "pre-heating."
The classic method of pre-heating is to pick an inanimate object like a nearby box or rock, and fire at it until you reach the desired level of "heat" and then sweep off the object and onto your target (don't let go of the trigger!). Once you reach the upper portions of the heat gauge, you will be putting out enough damage that you can quickly kill multiple targets if your aim is good (especially if they are shield-tanked suits). This is a somewhat vanilla way of using the weapon, but it definitely works: The archetypic "boring but effective" method.
But who wants that?! Believe it or not, how you miss is where a lot of the fun can come from! Here are a few of my favorite techniques:
1) "The derp": AKA "oh noes I sure do suck at dust!". When using this method, you fire sorta near your targets but wave the beam haphazardly all over the place like you have terrible aim or have no idea what you are doing. Once you are preheated, suddenly whip the laz0r beam right on target and melt the enemies face before they know what hit them.
2) "The clothesline": Arguably my favorite, but is very situational. Locate an enemy running perpendicular to your line of sight (or close to it) and basically on level ground with you. Fire the laz0r ahead of them, ideally just at or above head level. Time it right, and they will run straight into your beam at maximum heat, "clotheslining" themselves WWE-style on it. Headshot!
3)"The decoy": If a friendly player is engaging the enemy, fire at them instead. (Warning: NOT intended for use in factional warfare or PC!). You can preheat your beam and hopefully lull your target into a false sense of security thinking their teammate is the one firing the laz0r. Once you are heated up, they will realize the truth after they see your name on the "killed by" screen.
- Alternately, if there is a group of targets, fire at the one you would like to scare away (for example, the one who sees you or is shooting at you!) and then finish off the rest once you are heated up.
4)"Death from above": AKA "a bolt from the blue". Shoot into the air well above your target. Once preheated, swing the beam straight down onto their heads and smite them with your purifying light! Can be tough to pull off, but just like the clothesline, very satisfying when you do. Bonus points for the Amarr RP'er who busts out an appropriately haughty one liner about God's wrath at the same time!
Got more? Please share, I'll put them in the final version of the guide!