PLAS-1 Scorcher

> *"The PLAS-1 Scorcher is the first ever Helldiver-issued plasma weapon. Super Earth engineers have gone to great lengths to provide a safe and reliable weapon, and the result is a rifle firing bolts of superheated gas. The bolts explode on impact or after travelling a certain distance, and can cause great anti-personnel damage. Part of the Weapons equipment kit."
>  - Armory Description*
>
>

## Unlock Requirement

The PLAS-1 Scorcher is part of the Weapons Pack and is automatically unlocked by purchasing the respective DLC.

## Upgrades

**Extended Magazine**

* Increases the number of rounds in the magazine from 10 to 20. The number of spare magazines that can be carried remains unchanged.

**Incendiary Gas Composition**

* The weapon is loaded with a specialized gas mixture that lingers briefly on detonation, transferring more thermal energy to its target and setting it ablaze. Ignites enemies caught in the explosion.

## Weapon Stats

* Helldivers start missions with 4 cartridges of ionized gas and can carry up to a maximum of 8. Each magazine contains enough gas for 10 bolts by default (20 with the Extended Magazine upgrade). If 4 or less bolts remain in the magazine when the weapon is fired, the 'low ammunition' warning sound will play.

* The Scorcher has a 2.5 second reload time and has no tactical reload due to using fixed capacity gas cartridges. As a result, no extra fuel is carried over between cartridges if the user reloads early.

## Gameplay Tips

* The Scorcher largely fulfills the same role as the CR-9 Suppressor as a mid-range crowd-clearing weapon. It has noticeably less range than the Suppressor and deals far less explosive damage, but makes up for this by having a larger magazine, a faster rate of fire, nearly twice as much damage per shot on a direct hit, and when upgraded it has the ability to ignite its targets, dealing an additional 200 damage total over 2 seconds. This gives the Scorcher a greater advantage over the Suppressor vs single hardened targets.

* The Scorcher is one of the two primary weapons that is inherently dangerous to use at close range due to the risk of self-damage or around teammates due to splash damage, the other being the CR-9 Suppressor. Especially when upgraded with **Incendiary Gas Composition**, the combined explosive and fire damage is enough to down, if not outright kill any unprotected Helldiver caught in the blast. Maintaining your distance and exercising caution around teammates is a must if using this weapon. Using protective perks and stratagems such as the SH-20 Shield Generator Pack and/or the Displacement Field Perk will provide protection from errant shots.
	+ Counter-intuitively, the Scorcher can be freely fired around a downed player without damaging them due to them being effectively prone and safe from anti-personnel explosive damage. Thus the Scorcher can be used to safely kill enemies swarming around a downed Helldiver, making rescue or recovery much safer for both parties.

* With the **Incendiary Gas Composition** upgrade, plasma bolts will set fire to everything caught in their explosion, friendly or not. This allows its user to conserve ammo by letting enemies burn before reigniting them. Unlike most incendiary weapons, the Scorcher will ignite *all* enemies except the Cyborg IFV, whether the plasma bolt can damage its intended target or not. This gives the Scorcher the unique ability among primary weapons to kill almost every enemy in the game that normally requires anti-tank stratagems, albeit very slowly and inefficiently compared to dedicated anti-tank options.

* Scorcher bolts deal both direct damage and splash damage in an area around the point of impact and will detonate at a set distance if there is nothing in their path, giving it limited indirect fire capability. This allows the Scorcher to deal with both clusters of enemies and enemies around cover. Try to hit the innermost member of mobs if possible to maximize ammo efficiency. If enemies are not conveniently grouped, consider shooting at an obstacle or the ground between or near them to catch as many targets in the explosion as possible.

## Notes

* The Scorcher shares the same reloading animation as the AR weapons. Interestingly, it also drops an AR-style magazine when reloaded, despite using ionized gas cartridges.

* The PLAS-1 Scorcher was re-balanced in Patch 3.02. The weapon now does slightly less direct damage; starts with 4 magazines instead of 5; holds a max of 8 magazines instead of 7.

* The design of the Scorcher and its PLAS-3 Singe pistol counterpart bears a strong resemblance to that of the plasma guns and pistols in Games Workshop's tabletop game *Warhammer 40,000* and its spin-offs.