Laser Weapon Tricks

Invest skill points in Weapons Ranged Laser for +1% to hit per point with all laser weapons you are trained in. You may also spend skill points to purchase the following tricks.

Tactical

Zap:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Tactical Training, Small Laser Weapon
Duration: 1 Minute
Effect: You tinker with your laser pistol to increase its rate of fire. You can shoot twice with one Action. However, each shot is weaker so each shot deals 1 Hit regardless of the weapon's normal Hit rating. When your pistol cools down at the end of combat it loses 1 Quality.

Laser Field Strip:

Cost: 1 Skill point
Maneuver Cost: 6 Actions
Requires: Tactical Training, A Not Broken Laser Weapon
Duration: Passive
Effect: You can Field Strip and reassemble a Laser weapon that is not broken and make minor repairs. This will improve a weapons quality by one point but no higher than 5.

Cell Pulse:

Cost: 3 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Tactical Training, Laser Weapon
Duration: 1 shot
Effect: Spend an Action to focus the next beam. Your next laser attack this turn deals +1 Hit and consumes one extra E-Cell charge from the weapon's pack. If the weapon has insufficient charge, the trick cannot be activated. The beam tightens; the cell drops a tick; the target catches the difference.

Cell Discipline:

Cost: 2 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Tactical Training, Laser Weapon
Duration: Passive
Effect: Your laser weapon attacks consume 1 fewer E-Cell charge per shot, minimum 1. The discipline is in modulating the beam's draw; you've trained the trigger to release at peak efficiency rather than peak intensity. Most operators never notice the difference. Most operators run dry an hour earlier than you.

Heat Pulse:

Cost: 3 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Tactical Training, Laser Weapon
Duration: 1 shot
Effect: Overcharge a single shot through the weapon's heat sink. Your next laser attack this turn deals +1 Hit. After the shot resolves, the weapon loses 1 Quality from thermal stress. Useful when one Hit is the difference between target acquired and target eliminated.

Expert

Beam Weapon:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 2 Actions
Requires: Expert Training, Medium Class Laser Weapon
Duration: 1 Minute
Effect: You reprogram your weapon so, at the flick of a switch, you can change it into Beam Mode.

• You fire your weapon in a 45deg cone, hitting the front-most targets.
• A Hit target can make a Movement-Acrobatics check against your attack roll to reduce the Hits taken by 1 (minimum 1 Hit).
• After using your weapon in this way, it's Quality is reduced by 2.
• This attack uses 50% of the ECells if less than 50% remains (under half the shots left) you are unable to use this Maneuver.

Charge Cycle:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action (during Stim Break)
Requires: Expert Training, Laser Weapon
Duration: Passive
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Once per encounter, during a Stim Break, spend 1 Action to recover 25% of your laser weapon's E-Cell pack capacity (round down). The trick is in cycling the cell through a controlled discharge-and-recapture pattern; the rest is physics. Cannot exceed the pack's maximum charge.

Coil Surge:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Expert Training, Laser Weapon, Heat Pulse
Duration: Encounter
Effect: Activate at the start of an encounter to surge the weapon's coils. While Surged, your laser attacks deal +1 Hit. The weapon loses 1 Quality at the end of each round the surge is active. The surge ends when you choose to drop it, when the weapon's Quality reaches 1, or when the encounter ends; whichever comes first.

Mirror Polish:

Cost: 2 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action (during Stim Break)
Requires: Expert Training, Laser Weapon, polishing kit
Duration: Passive
Effect: During a Stim Break, spend 1 Action to polish the laser weapon's emitter mirrors. Restore +1 Quality (maximum 5). Faster than the full Laser Field Strip but limited to between-fight maintenance; this is the wipe, not the rebuild.

Strobe Lock:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 1 Action
Requires: Expert Training, Laser Weapon
Duration: Until end of target's next turn
Effect: Spend an Action to fire a strobing pulse at a target. On a Hit, the target gains Hindered(1); Vision until the end of their next turn. Stacks with other Vision impairments via the standard Hindered chain.

Mastery

Overload Lance:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 2 Actions
Requires: Mastery Training, Laser Weapon
Duration: 1 shot
Effect: You channel the weapon's full cell charge into a single coherent lance. On a successful hit, the attack bypasses all DR and deals its Hits directly to the HITS track. The target gains Suffering(1); Burning, taking 1 Hit at the start of each of their turns until they spend an Action to smother the burn or they enter water/vacuum. The weapon loses 2 Quality and consumes 50% of the remaining E-Cell charge (minimum 3 charges). If fewer than 3 charges remain, you cannot use this Maneuver.

Overload:

Cost: 4 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 5 Actions
Requires: Mastery Training, Heavy Laser Weapon
Duration: Instant
Effect: Your weapon and power-pack overload and detonate in a small mushroom cloud. You fire your weapon continuously for 5 Actions. On the 6th Action, you smash your overload button.

• The remaining PSU Capacity in ECells from your PSU unit is instantly dumped into your Weapon.
• At the end of your Turn, your weapon Explodes.
• Your weapon deals Hits equal to the remaining ECell charges (maximum 50 Hits) to every creature and object within 50m.
• If these Hits mark all of a target's remaining HITS they are vaporized.
• Your Weapon is destroyed.
• If you are still holding the weapon you are obliterated.

Carrier Beam:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: 2 Actions
Requires: Master Training, Medium Class Laser Weapon, Beam Weapon
Duration: 1 shot
Effect: While in Beam Mode, your beam splits at the moment of contact and arcs to one adjacent enemy. The original target takes the weapon's normal Hits; the secondary target takes half the Hits (round up). Both targets must be within line of sight from your firing position. The beam splits once and only once; there is no chained cascade.

Reactor Tap:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Master Training, Laser Weapon, spare E-Cell pack on belt
Duration: Passive
Frequency: Once per encounter
Effect: Once per encounter, gain an Extra Action that can only be used to swap a depleted E-Cell pack for a full one from your belt. The Extra Action covers the full swap cycle, eject, lock, prime, in a single beat. Belt-mounted spare packs are required; cargo-bay or backpack-stowed cells are not within reach.

Lens Hardened:

Cost: 5 Skill points
Maneuver Cost: Passive
Requires: Master Training, Laser Weapon, Mirror Polish
Duration: Passive
Effect: Your laser weapon's emitter is reinforced against thermal stress. The first Quality loss your laser takes per encounter is negated entirely; the lens absorbs the strain that would otherwise have degraded it. Subsequent Quality losses apply normally.