+5 damage , surely an improvement.

Some people get mislead on the small improvements like a +5 increase , don't let stats fool you slap on a complex damage mod get prof up to lvl V and you got a laser with 25hp damage :D

I've been taking down by the Viziam in around a second at times.

So, no, dont upgrade to it, please

Pretty sure the skills for laser are still broken. There's no improvement to heat build up no matter how high you go. The only reason to skill up lasers right now is for the viziam, which is well worth it.

Isn't there a problem with sharpshooter too?
So sharpshooter makes the laser range longer but negates
damage at closer ranges as you level it up?
Is this intended?

Pretty sure the skills for laser are still broken. There's no improvement to heat build up no matter how high you go. The only reason to skill up lasers right now is for the viziam, which is well worth it.

^^^ this is acurate ^^^

There is a lot of really bad advice in this thread.

Also the viziam is all around Very expensive (i.e. CPU/ISK), meaning if you die more than once a match your going to be in the hole every game.

I am an avid LR user. During last build I was skilled into viziam. The thing is definitely a beast, but is simply economicaly unsustainable (I haven't taken LR's past LV 1 this build but it is still my go to light weapon). The viziam is good for having fun though or for use during corp battles.

Also when skilling lasers you must also pay extra attention to light weapons sharpshooter skill, as, in addition to extending the laser rifles maximum efective range, it also extends the laser rifle's minimum effective range. For my own purposes I fine sharpshooter three to Be just about perfect.

As well the ELM is quite pointless to the point of being ridiculous, so if your using it I would recomend that you stop.

Hopped that helped you.

And here I am with my sharpshooter at prof 2... Mainly to deal with things like duvolles and viziam users. But, having sidearm sharpshooter helps with a decent scrambler to compensate for that damn blindspot.

I agree on the Elm though. Utterly useless.

ELM useless? I used that weapon most of my life during last build and closed beta and I don't understand your point, I can go over 20 kills without problems using that weapon and my sharpshooter lvl 4 gives me a beastly range, as a dedicated LR user the ELM is a good choice if you can't afford going for the Viziam.

And before anyone ask yes, I have enough ISK to afford them and enough CPU to use it with several complex shield mods (using damage mods in a Viziam is overkill) BUT! everyone needs to remember the previous QQ threads about LR's during Closed Beta and the start of Open Beta... and I'm affraid to say that LR's are in the "to be tweaked/nerfed" list of CCP, so I suggest to skill up LR Operations to 5 under your own risk, because if CCP unleash the nerfhammer on the LR's... well, that day I'll be selling torches and forks for the angry mobs.

More bad advice. ^^^

The ELM offers NO damage bonus and allows you to burn 4 extra rounds before overheating the weapon (LR 80/100 before over heat - ELM 84/100 before over heat). Now if the passive on the ops skill was not broken this might be a good thing, however, that is simply not the case. The ELM is NOT worth the money.

Well that's your opinion, I'm comfortable with it and my KDR speaks by itself. I understand that the ops skill is broken yet the ELM is highly useful, you can see a difference from using a standart LR and the ELM. as I said it's my personal opinion on the weapon and don't forget about the nerfhammer, if CCP doesn't nerf the Viziam in future updates them I'll go for it, if they do then at least I know that my SP will be safe and ready to be used in other stuff.

LR's are OP and need nerfed.

I tried using it with a heavy since I've seen many others doing that and my preferred sidearm is the Amarr Scrambler Pistol, so thought it would be cool to go full out Amarr. After a few rounds, I simply don't get how anyone prefers this set up. The laser rifle gives your position away and draws a lot of unwanted attention from snipers and sharpshooters, and once you start getting fired at you're too slow to get behind cover and can't jump high enough to make a quick escape over a railing.

Assault + Laser Rifle is where it's at.