Dual Lasers

[Pixel Peeper]

I just started up FTL again after many many months of not having played, and I noticed they hadn't fixed the description on the Dual Lasers, so I thought I'd make a note here:

The description says they're weak and used by those who can't afford better, but that's idiotic.

It's pretty much the best weapon in the game. If you had four of those, you'd only need 4 weapons systems and 4 power and you could fire volleys of 8 bursts every 10 seconds.

3x Burst Laser Mk II would fire 9 bursts every 12 seconds (comparable) but would require 6 weapons systems and 6 power instead of just 4.

EDIT: I am not implying that you can get four of them. AFAIK they're default equipment only. I'm just illustrating how good they are.

I don't know if this was actually *intended*, to mislead newbies, but I declare this to be a ♥♥♥♥ move and hereby warn new players; don't be fooled by the flavor text, this weapon is fantastic.

[daldora]

continuing your math mk3 burst would require 16 power for 20 lazers
not possible but fun to think about

however when you think about the last boss you would get through his shields and have 4 lazers left dealing 1 dmg each

as compared to 2 burst lazers (4 shots hitting) and say a pegasus launcer and a type of beam (pegasus 2 rockets for 1 doing i dont rmember dmg each) perfect for destroying shields while beams offer a sweep across multiple systems meaning you can take out oxygen,weps, and engines in 1 hit that never misses

diversty in weapons is stronger than a volley of lazers especly when dealing wiht enmies of high dodge chance

given these weapons make great early game i feel they fall off as compared to other weapons
some ships dont even get a full 4 weapon load out and in this case you wont be able to do everything you want

[Undead Llama]

I think his point is that the Red-Tail can easily defeat the final boss fitting no weapons other than the 4x Dual Lasers; he is right, they are that good, but also you save quite a sum of scrap from not buying weapon slot upgrades *UNLESS* you really want to fit something new and shiny. (having the ability to crush anything with less than 3 shield with ease should not be under-estimated - it renders the first 3 sectors a cake-walk)

[DarkTwinge]

My guess is that the description merely wasn't fixed when thigns changed over time - I doubt it was intentional. I fix up many of the descriptions and tooltips in the Balance Mod[www.it-is-law.com], including this one.

[Pixel Peeper]

I think stacking bursts makes sense.

With bursts + beam, anytime you don't get enough burst hits, your beam can't do anything. Whenever they do, you indeed automatically get a solid hit from your beam, though the damage would be less regular; none when bursts don't penetrate, lots when they do. And sadly beams cannot hit rooms more than once each so you *have* to spread the damage and can't focus-fire anything. It's not a bad combination at all, but it has its weaknesses.

With a lot of bursts, you're far more likely to consistently penetrate shields, and thus place a few points of damage in a location of your choosing. It gets you decent results very regularly.

Against the Flagship, I'd much rather have 8-burst volleys than a burst/missile/beam combo. I can fire often and I'll usually get 1 or 2 damage every volley, more if I start working on their shields.

With three types of weapons... the bursts most often won't be able to take out all four shields, thus the beam will be useless and the missiles will have to do all the work. On Phase 2, with Defense Drones destroying missiles, you wouldn't be able to do much against it.

Stacking bursts is putting the RNG on your side. Fire often, in numbers that make getting through very likely, and you'll be putting out consistent damage.

[K. the Land-Surveyor]

Ion/beam combo is best combo.

And, maybe I'm just really inattentive, but you can't find Dual Lasers normally, right? I've never seen them available in a shop, I'm sure. That's probably why they have that description- the reason why nobody sells them is because the galaxy considers them useless (For some reason).

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by Voidhawk:

I think his point is that the Red-Tail can easily defeat the final boss fitting no weapons other than the 4x Dual Lasers; he is right, they are that good, but also you save quite a sum of scrap from not buying weapon slot upgrades *UNLESS* you really want to fit something new and shiny. (having the ability to crush anything with less than 3 shield with ease should not be under-estimated - it renders the first 3 sectors a cake-walk)

Yes, exactly. I was talking specifically about the Dual Lasers, which does amazing things for having such low power requirements. You can end up with serious firepower without investing much at all in weapon systems, which also won't be using much power. It's both efficient and very economical.

The Red-Tail is a great example of how a higher-than-normal number of bursts will consistently go through shields.

Originally posted by Twinge:

My guess is that the description merely wasn't fixed when thigns changed over time - I doubt it was intentional. I fix up many of the descriptions and tooltips in the Balance Mod[www.it-is-law.com], including this one.

That might well be the case. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of this game's existence during its development; I only learned about it and obtained it when it came out.

[Pixel Peeper]

Originally posted by Twitchblade:

Ion/beam combo is best combo.

And, maybe I'm just really inattentive, but you can't find Dual Lasers normally, right? I've never seen them available in a shop, I'm sure. That's probably why they have that description- the reason why nobody sells them is because the galaxy considers them useless (For some reason).

Ion/Beam is pretty damn good. Slowly work on shields, then as long as you don't get a bad streak missing with the ion, you get to cut the enemy ship to pieces using the unavoidable beam.

No, I don't remember ever seing Dual Lasers in shops. I didn't mean to imply you could get four of them; I was just illustrating that they're very good. They shouldn't be sold early, and the ships that start with them aren't as weak as a new player might think given the description provided.

Anyway, the message's out there.

Now I must sleep.

[Mumblez]

OP is right in theory BUT, finding 4 of them in a playthrough is unlikely. Often its better to get maybe a hull laser, 3 shot laser and something else...might cost more to operate, but at least those are more likely to find.

[Undead Llama]

Originally posted by Rent a mop:

OP is right in theory BUT, finding 4 of them in a playthrough is unlikely. Often its better to get maybe a hull laser, 3 shot laser and something else...might cost more to operate, but at least those are more likely to find.

lol, theory be damned, the Type-2 Kestrel starts with 4 dual lasers - it's fact! :P

My prefered ship, the Zoltan-B, is just as nasty. Worse, if you give her a Fire Beam..

[Zorkalmighty]

Just to point out, the Red-Tail does not start with 4 "DUAL lasers" but instead starts with 4 basic lasers whitch fire a single shot instead of 2, still a potant ship i might add.

[Undead Llama]

Got me; I haven't played the Kestrel since my first unlock. (was thinking the basic's were dual's for reasons unknown)

OP's point remains tho; using a Dual Laser will generally be the most economical fit decision you will have available.

[Mumblez]

Wish I could unlock the kestral B...I really should find / import a save file with all ships.

[nevets77]

I'd like to point out, you can't even get dual lasers, not in stores at least.

[Shosuro]

Kestral B rocks

[Keleox]

Originally posted by Rent a mop:

Wish I could unlock the kestral B...I really should find / import a save file with all ships.

I have a file I took that has all 9 of the ships. I can give it to you or you can get it from the FTL forums.