Laser

Stats are based off a 1 meter block

**Lasers** are the standard projectile weapon that fires high-energy plasma bolts. Not to be confused with the Beam, which fires a constant stream of energy.

## Overview

Lasers are the go-to projectile weapon in Starship EVO. Despite its confusing name, the laser fires plasma bolts instead of a concentrated beam like its counterpart. The laser is the most customizable and versatile weapon in combat.

### Setup

The laser can be placed on all entities. It can be scaled but only stretch its barrel length. For players to fire a laser, it must first be linked to a logical source or Event Gate. Lasers must have a clear shot to fire. Blocks thicker than the length of the laser from the same entity directly in front of the laser's line of sight will prevent it from firing. AI Turrets can use lasers if linked directly to them; however, manual turrets still require an event gate. Pressing **[F]** will bring up a statistical breakdown of that array.

If configured to be the **"Primary Fire"** or **"Secondary Fire, "** the laser will have a gimble effect, meaning that players can aim the laser with the mouse cursor. If fired through Logic, it will only fire straight ahead unless the logic source is an Event Gate. Manually controlled Turrets will have a combination of both the gimble effect along with the synchronized movements to the player's mouse cursor.

The laser features the ability to mount several kinds of barrel attachments to alter the weapon's properties. The top of the laser features several notches. These notches are for Weapon Attachments, augmenting blocks that will affect the damage output of the array. Every block length that the laser stretches will add one extra notch. A fully extended laser will be able to mount four attachments.

### Usage

Upon activation, the laser will fire one plasma bolt at a time. By default, the reload time is 1 second between shots, but adding barrels and attachments will affect this. Bolts only deal moderate **Heat** damage and are comparatively ineffective against shields. Laser bolts have an armor-piercing effect and will penetrate multiple blocks upon impact, where each bolt also has an area of effect proportional to its size. The larger the bolt, the more blocks it will damage when it hits a target. Lasers require only energy to fire; no ammunition is necessary.

Aside from damage the Laser has some unique attributes. Laser bolts have a natural spread; Equipping specific barrel attachments to the laser will affect this spread. The laser differentiates itself from the beam in that projectiles confer a concussive force on them. Larger-scale laser arrays will impart more kinetic force per bolt.

## Logic

Weapons fired via logic will not have the gimble effect and will fire straight ahead unless the origin is a hotkey.
   Button(Pulse)

## Weapon Attachments

*Main Article: Weapon Attachments*

Players can apply addons to lasers by placing them on the notches on the back of every array. Each block length added to the barrel increased the number of notches. The maximum number of addons applied to a Laser array is 4.

In addition to using addons, laser arrays can also use barrel attachments. Each laser array can only support one barrel attachment. Barrel attachments dramatically change the properties of a laser system.

 **Charge Addon** | Increases the charge capacity to fire longer or larger shots.
 **Overheat Addon** | Increases Heat damage and damage made to shields.
 **Damage Addon** | Increases Hull Damage.
 **Supercharge Addon** | Increases both Heat and Hull damage equally.

### Recoil Barrel

*The Recoil Barrel attachment increases the shot size, resulting in slower, more powerful and slightly more accurate shots. It does not impact the recoil or impact force.*

 Charge
 Damage
 Spread

### Cooling Barrel

*The Cooling Barrel attachment reduces the heat on charge. Firing will produce a unique visual effect of gas venting through the holes.*

 Heat

### Gatling Barrel

*The Gatling Barrel attachment increases the fire rate at the cost of shot power while increasing spread.*

 Charge
 Damage
 Spread
 Velocity

### Range Barrel

*The Range Barrel attachment increases the velocity and range, while also reducing the spread.*

## Tips

* Connecting a laser to a Turret with an event gate will allow players to create controllable turrets that they can use for purposes other than combat.
* It is possible to stack two fully stretched Laser arrays on top of each other and both will function. However if anything else is placed on top of the stack, such as a barrel, then only the top most laser will fire. Installing general attachments will not disrupt either array.
* Lasers have a minimum damage dealing distance proportional to the array scale. Attacks at point blank range will go through a target dealing no damage.
* When using Timer gates, it is possible to set up sequentially firing laser arrays. However, unless specifically setup, they will only bore fire and will not have the gimble effect.
* The unique glowing effect of the Cooling Barrel will still activate even if the Laser array it is connected is obstructed from firing.