46 replies to this topic

[FDJustin]

These things are a terrible weapon. Very little range means it's necessary to get in close without the opportunity to soften the enemy up, and even worse, allows a nearly free chase if your foe is smart enough to let you get out of range.
Hitting someone with a full barrage of small lasers feels only slightly more effective than calling them names.

And yet, I'm enjoying them. They force me to be an in-fighter, complete with all the advantages and disadvantages that come with it. People have a harder time shooting out your legs when you're within 80 meters. Normal PPC's become useless. IS missileboats become useless. Enemy missiles might get blocked by your foe. Your enemy is more likely to take friendly fire in general for that matter.
You can't really dodge however. Enemies can stand still and turn if they want, making it pretty hard to avoid return fire. Your escape vector is much longer, leaving you very vulnerable if and when more enemies show up.

So, I wonder. Does anyone else ever boat them, or are they forever relegated to the rank of filler? After all, you can grab a quad machinegun spider or ember and do the same thing better. Range gives you many, many more options for fighting, as well as a safer retreat, more damage, and means to continue fighting when legged.

[Ph30nix]

ive had some really good rounds in my all small laser hunchie, on low heat maps you can fire them almost non stop. Sadly you have to be very close but if you maneuver right you can take out assaults from behind before they even react.

[Turist0AT]

im boating small pulse lasers, in Firestarter and Nova. Super fun

Edited by Turist0AT, 17 August 2014 - 04:02 AM.

[Thorqemada]

Lights and fast Mediums may have some good use of them and they be crit space fillers, they also move the PPC to the upper weapon slots of some Mechs that fill the lower weapons slots with SL.

[Impyrium]

End of story.

[Samophlange]

With 12 of them in a nova, you get higher damage than ac20s. Oh, with no ammo restrictions, faster fire rate and the ability to chainfire and never overheat. Yay!

Edited by Samophlange, 17 August 2014 - 04:52 AM.

[theta123]

BLR-3M

This is my second BLR3M build

And its got a good punch with its AC10 and LRM 20 artemis

but....Anyone who gets close

or when i move in close

24 alpha
again
and again
and again
AND AGAIN

[Tahribator]

I guess it looks good on Paul's spreadsheets.

It's not usable in 99% of the gameplay situations though. My only gripe with it is the range, 100m is just absymal. Bump it to about 180m and people would start taking it whenever they can. SPL is not that bad because it dumps so much damage in so little time, but SL is just hopeless.

[Bulletsponge0]

sneeking, on 17 August 2014 - 05:04 AM, said:

its pathetic, i guess there is a reason why mediums and large are used more offten.

I do very well in my 8 small laser (not small pulse lasers) firestarter....its like carrying a scalpel that can slice through the back armor of mechs in seconds or amputate legs of lights....

[Rizzelbizzeg]

I started using them on firestarters and found that on light mechs that run in, fire off some shots, then run out, small lasers are perfect! They actually let you fire twice on a drive by instead of just once with mediums. I really only find a use for them on really fast light mechs, though.

[Turist0AT]

sneeking, on 17 August 2014 - 04:28 AM, said:

so eight small pulses in a fs9k ?

ill try it

Yes! Wellcome to glorius close quarter battles

I fire 4 at a time, 3arm and one torso.

Edited by Turist0AT, 17 August 2014 - 05:24 AM.

[Turist0AT]

hihihi but sooo fun

If you want to do well, park behind heavies and assaults and core them out in seconds or aim for damaged areas.

Edited by Turist0AT, 17 August 2014 - 05:30 AM.

[Lord Perversor]

Tahribator, on 17 August 2014 - 05:14 AM, said:

I guess it looks good on Paul's spreadsheets.

It's not usable in 99% of the gameplay situations though. My only gripe with it is the range, 100m is just absymal. Bump it to about 180m and people would start taking it whenever they can. SPL is not that bad because it dumps so much damage in so little time, but SL is just hopeless.

Maybe because it's a backup weapon to get some extra punch in those 99% situations?

there is very few mechs chassis outside of lights who can perform well with Small Lasers as main weapon.

I have killed so many people with those small lasers because they just understimated them and went for the free kill.

[Tahribator]

Lord Perversor, on 17 August 2014 - 05:37 AM, said:

Maybe because it's a backup weapon to get some extra punch in those 99% situations?

there is very few mechs chassis outside of lights who can perform well with Small Lasers as main weapon.

I have killed so many people with those small lasers because they just understimated them and went for the free kill.

I was fine with that being a niche "filler" laser until the Clans arrived. ERSL augments the ML nicely, it does as much DPS as the regular IS ML while having a 200m optimal and 400m max. It's not a niche weapon for weird situations but it's actually something useful that you want to bring.

That's why I'd like a range buff for the IS SL. It's outright inferior to the Clan SL in every way and that's not alright.

[Mcgral18]

Tahribator, on 17 August 2014 - 05:14 AM, said:

I guess it looks good on Paul's spreadsheets.

It's not usable in 99% of the gameplay situations though. My only gripe with it is the range, 100m is just absymal. Bump it to about 180m and people would start taking it whenever they can. SPL is not that bad because it dumps so much damage in so little time, but SL is just hopeless.

It already has the 200% heat increase to become an ERSL, why not change the range to match.

[TimePeriod]

I don't use them. The situations are so few and far between, the risk is sky-high and you can't return fire when stuck in the open.

Horrible weapon.

[Belorion]

Flamers, ac 2s, mgs, small lasers, small pulse are all niche weapons. Not generally useful but can be used to great effect with the right pilot.

[Bront]

Small lasers can be useful at times on some IS mechs. The short fire durration means they're easier to keep on target, and for fast light mechs, getting close isn't that big of an issue. They also can provide some backup for little weight and heat.

I've used Smalls or Small Pulses in Jenners and Firestarters to reasonably good effect. If you boat them, it's all or nothing for the most part (Jenner D or K do this well, as does the Firestarter K). If you're using them to supliment your weapons, that can be fun too (Firestarter S works well with 4 MLs and 2 SLs along with it's twin AMS, The H works well with 4 ML, 2 SPL, and 2 MGs, the A could do SL/SPL for the torso weapons and MLs for the arms and be pretty deadly as well).

Outside of that, I've only heard good results from the Partyback and the energy Locusts.

[A banana in the tailpipe]

Clan er-SLs are great. Welcome to P2W

[CocoaJin]

The are useful. I've used them as supplemental firepower during alphas and as a heat efficient supplemental weapon to allow me to continue to deliver damage in a knife fight once my alphas have caused my heat to rise.

Of course you'd have a hard time justifying mounting them as a primary weapon on a Heavy with plenty of free weight, but for smaller mechs, the small laser can be a much needed increase in fire power, especially if you are alpha focused...every damage point counts.

I have 2 on my favorite build, I'm happy with what they bring to the party...yes, I'd prefer 2 more MPLs, but my build can't support those...so small lasers will have to do.