Plasma Laser

### Damage

875 total (ramps up and down between 0 and 40 per tick over the duration of the salvo)

## Characteristics

### Pros

Heavy direct damage focused on a single point. Pinpoint accuracy. When paired with Firebeam, can punch through a massive amount of wood.

### Cons

Very expensive to build. Extremely high energy consumption per shot. Deflected by energy shields. Only deals damage in a single focused point, without any splash. Without being paired with the Firebeam, easily stopped by wood-spam.

The **Plasma** **Laser** is a heavy weapon unlocked by the Factory. It fires a highly damaging energy beam.

### Overview

The Plasma Laser fires a perfectly accurate blue-colored beam of burning plasma, delivering devastating damage focused on the point of impact. While the laser doesn't deal any splash damage, it more than makes up for it with having nearly the highest direct damage potential in the game. Coupled with its perfect accuracy and no drop from gravity, it allows for surgical strikes at weak spots of the opponent's fort. At 875 total damage, a direct hit from the Plasma Laser deals more than enough damage to destroy any weapon or device in the game.

The high damage potential is offset by the high price of the weapon, both in building and powering the weapon's fire. The build cost of 1000 metal and 6000 energy makes it one of the most expensive weapons in the game to field. Aside from the high resource requirement alone being prohibitive, acquiring the weapon is further complicated by the sheer cost making it necessary to build 2 Metal Stores, and 2 Batteries.

In an emergency, the Plasma Laser can be used as a haphazard form of anti-air, as the beam is easily capable of intercepting destructible projectiles - like Warheads, or Howitzer/Deck Gun shots mid-air.

Like other beam weapons, the Plasma Laser is entirely ineffective against an Energy Shield, being deflected without dealing any damage to the shield, and may potentially ricochet towards the attacker or another friendly fort. Additionally, the Plasma Laser can be fired even when there's not enough energy, but the beam will shut down the moment energy reserves hit 0.

### Strategies

Making the most out of the Plasma Laser requires precision. While the beam has an exceptionally high damage potential, it doesn't deal any splash damage, affecting only the objects it directly contacts. This means that targets for the weapon must be selected carefully.

Wind Turbines and Mines not protected by Energy Shields should be a priority target, as a single laser blast will easily annihilate an entire line of the buildings. Weapons are another key target. Because of the beam hitting instantly and with perfect accuracy, the weapon excels in door sniping. Even with the opponent's doors closed, at 875 damage the Plasma Laser is powerful enough to destroy two layers of Armoured Door/Armour (400hp each) in a single shot, although some more durable weapons may survive the remaining damage of such an attack.

The weapon synergizes extraordinarily well with the Firebeam. If a row of wooden struts is weakened by the Firebeam shot, hitting the same spot with a Plasma Laser will instantly disintegrate them. While typically dense Bracing would be a highly effective defense against a Plasma Laser, if a Firebeam is in play, then this is inversed; the Firebeam paired with the Plasma will easily penetrate the defense, likely killing whatever's behind it. The combo is further aided by the weapons' build times themselves; a Plasma Laser takes 120 seconds to build, and a Firebeam takes 75 seconds. This means that the Plasma Laser can be placed, followed by a Firebeam, and the two weapons will finish around the same time, allowing an extremely powerful opening shot.

Other weapons that deal massive splash damage to Bracing such as Howitzers also pair well with the Plasma Laser, since it will have an easier time penetrating through dense woodspam. While not a great strategy in 1v1s due to multiple T2 techs having to be built, it can be highly effective in 2v2s where each player can go a separate heavy tech.

As the weapon has an extremely high power consumption, building and protecting an adequate amount of Wind Turbines is extremely important. Taking a hit on energy production may be more disastrous than with other weapons, as this can result in being unable to fire the Plasma Laser at all.

Aside from heavy build cost, the weapon is also extremely power hungry. With 5000 energy per shot required, it is the most expensive weapon to operate before High Seas content, and even then, it is only outclassed by the Orbital Laser and Nighthawk; other weapons that the Factory provides. Factoring in the reload time, the weapon requires an input of ~193 energy per second in order to keep firing non stop after every reload. Since a 100% efficiency Wind Turbine produces 45 energy/s, it means that - coupled with the Reactor output (110 energy/s), firing a single Plasma Laser alone as fast as its cooldown allows requires at least 2 max efficiency non-upgraded turbines, or a single un-upgraded Smoke Stack. Additional Plasma Lasers will require 4 turbines (2 Smoke Stacks) each to satisfy the energy cost.

### Counters

Shields are a highly effective defense against Plasma Lasers, although it is critical that some defenses are in place besides the Shield. While they prevent 100% of the damage a Plasma Laser would deal, they can be disabled or destroyed by nearly every explosive projectile in the game, including but not limited to Cannons, EMP Rockets, and Swarm Missiles. Their vulnerability, tied with their extremely low HP and a demanding energy run-cost, means that Energy Shields should take a more supplementary role in defense. Despite their weaknesses, if Energy Shields are used well they can save a lot on a player's budget. For the main protection, dense woodspam is highly effective against Plasma Beams due to their high penetration and non-existent splash damage. Spaced wood and/or Sandbags should also be built in front of the compact defense, in case of a Firebeam.

Since Firebeams are often key to allowing the Plasma Beam to penetrate thick defenses, Sandbags are highly effective at defending the Firebeam-Plasma combo. Not only do Sandbags completely nullify the penetrative properties of a Firebeam, but they also nullify a third of the Plasma's damage. Costing just 300 energy, they are also an extremely cost effective way to defend the laser combo.

While Plasma Lasers are very effective at doorsniping, they are very prone to doorsnipes themselves. Due to their long firing period, coupled with their low HP (250), a Plasma Laser can be destroyed by a single Sniper. Other heavy weapons can also take advantage of the extended fire duration, by firing right after the laser's burst ends. If timed well, the Plasma Laser can be doorsniped with very little risk.