Particle Beam

*This page was last updated during patch* v1.0.1797*. The current patch is* v1.6.1946*.*
*This article may be outdated. Please check the* Patch Notes *for more details.*
**Particle Beam** is an Arsenal ability. When the ability is activated, the Arsenal's secondary weapon is replaced by a Particle Beam weapon with limited ammo. When the Particle Beam runs out of ammo, it is replaced by the Arsenal's secondary weapon. The particle beam does area of effect damage with no spread and no bullet travel time. However, it requires a few moments to charge before it fires.

## Description

***"Equips the Arsenal with an Particle Beam. Giving him an effective long range weapon."***

## Prefixes & Modules

Particle Beam can come with the Barrage, Cooled, and Widened prefix as well as the Custom prefix.

Modules that modify Recharge, AoE, Potency, Force, and Max Deployment can be used.

## Modding Considerations

The most effective modules on this ability are AoE, Potency, and Cooldown. Increasing the area increases the size of the high damage inner area to the point where it can hit multiple humanoid enemies as well as creating a very large area for eliminating low health critters. Potency is not especially effective as a dps increase but there's no other yellow option.

**Deployment**  -  Each additional deployment adds a single shot.

**Potency**  -  The time between shots for the Particle Beam is:  `(2000 * (1 - (0.2 * Potency)))`. Maximizing Potency using basic epic modules results in a 1.08s delay between shots.

## Gameplay Notes

Particle Beam uses a unique delayed firing mechanic where the weapon will charge for roughly 200ms before firing a precise hitscan energy round. This delay is not modified by Potency. Each shot deals area damage but targets hit directly take much more damage than near-misses and the falloff damage is much higher than other AoE weapons.

Particle Beam, like Combat Shotgun and Mortar Arcfold, replaces the Arsenal's secondary weapon. Switching weapons while the beam is active will switch to your primary weapon but the ability remains in active use. The cooldown on Particle Beam will not begin until all rounds granted at the ability's activation are fired. If you're out of targets, fire the last rounds into the air so the ability is ready the next time you want to use it. Using another ability that replaces the secondary (e.g. Combat Shotgun) will discard remaining rounds and put Particle Beam on cooldown.

This ability provides both extreme range precision targeting and AoE damage. The range is not required in many combat situations. Compared to a grenade launcher it does similar damage per round in a more concentrated area at a much lower RoF and with a knockback that leads to less effective follow-up shots. A Grenade Launcher secondary weapon generally outperforms this ability for AoE damage but offers less range and lower direct-hit damage.

## Affected By Perks

* Combat Veteran
* Plasma Enthusiast
* Quick Hands
* Sure Shot

Not affected by:

* Fully Loaded
* Munitions

## Ares Suppliers

Particle Beam can be bought at various levels from the following ARES Vendors using local vouchers.

* Blue L9 - Northern Shores, Supply Officer Booker - 90 vouchers
* Green L18 - Sunken Harbor, Supply Officer "Jabs" - 35 vouchers
* Blue L29 - Andreev Station, Supply Officer Schwartz - 90 vouchers
* Green L37 - FOB Harpoon, Supply Officer Wachi - 50 vouchers
* Green L39 - Camp Jasper, Supply Officer Mendel - 60 vouchers