What's the use of charge laser in UT?

[RaptorSolutions]

From what I've seen the only use is to pollute your choices and I've never once thought that I would be glad to have it. I've even lost runs that I might have won because I picked it.
But, I wouldn't say I've ran that many runs, so maybe there are some special combos that make it shine?
And don't tell me it's good against sniper enemies, unless you tell me some method to guarantee mostly sniper enemies or something. Or maybe that's the point? But from experience I'll rather maintain high dps to kill the frontlines and then push for the back snipers, assuming I don't get lucky and roll fleet teleport. Since other than this specific enemy combo, I basically lose damage against everything else.

[phenir]

They aren't meant to counter snipers at all. In fact, snipers counter them. They are burst damage which means they counter frontline, until they don't. You learn this in normal fleet where charge laser is introduced at the same time as shotgun enemies.
Burst damage means you kill enemy before they get second shot or even before they shoot at all. It doesn't matter if the enemy has high damage if they die before they get to use it. Range means you get first shot. Same as above. It also means the ship stays safe behind the frontline so if you happen to have tanky cruisers or frigates, charge laser can keep your corvettes safe. Charge laser also gives so much range, ships in the backline can start shooting almost immediately. Combine the two and you kill several enemy units before fleets make contact with each other.
Several problems with it though. First range doesn't matter that much because range upgrades exist and you only need one or two of those for the same effect. Second, they don't prioritize targets beyond targeting non-cruisers first. This leads to them hitting swarmers or inefficient targets and missing thresholds. Third is thresholds. The more overkill you do, the worse off they are. One shotting is ideal but if you are anywhere between 1 and 2 shot, you lose a lot. Additionally, if enemies can just tank the shots, it's useless.

[Elgareth]

Yeah, Charge Lasers already fell off hard in later galaxy battles, the more enemy ships there are, the worse charge lasers become. And Unstable Transit usually has so many enemy ships that charge lasers are basically always a downgrade. It can really screw your run if you happen to only get charge lasers as choices.
Generally I think it's fine, roguelikes need bad choices IMHO. For charge lasers to become useful, I think they'd need a bounce mechanic, where overflow damage gets bounced to other targets nearby.

[花园骑士]

Originally posted by Elgareth:

For charge lasers to become useful, I think they'd need a bounce mechanic, where overflow damage gets bounced to other targets nearby.

As in, we should introduce plasma chainers instead?/s

[Elgareth]

Originally posted by 花园骑士:

Originally posted by Elgareth:

For charge lasers to become useful, I think they'd need a bounce mechanic, where overflow damage gets bounced to other targets nearby.

As in, we should introduce plasma chainers instead?/s

Sort of :-P Though I think Plasma Chainers do their full damage to all chain targets.
Charge Lasers need some way to target multiple enemies, to offset their slow firing speed (or they'd need a "Target Highest HP" priorization or something).

[varange]

On the latest run I managed to get to 19 with Duo mode (and few more) that left with frigates and fighters. I've used charged lasers on the fighters, turning them into quick one at some point. Basically, they melted most of shielded enemies, especailly easy killing any type of shotguns. However, the snipers were the reason I failed to get through 20th stage. Charge lasers make the ships really slow, and you can't just reach the snipers if it takes too long to kill the front line.

[RaptorSolutions]

CL fighters does sound like it makes some sense, since they have the numbers and also even if their damage is individually lower, that just means less overkill, right?
Otoh the chance of getting teleport fighters, are CL lasers good in close quarters?

[varange]

Originally posted by RaptorSolutions:

CL fighters does sound like it makes some sense, since they have the numbers and also even if their damage is individually lower, that just means less overkill, right?
Otoh the chance of getting teleport fighters, are CL lasers good in close quarters?

Haven't got the teleport in that run, but with quick charge laser they were quuite good, while having advantage in range in most cases. So, not sure really.

[Elgareth]

I don't know how the AI works, but when I got Fighters with Charge Lasers, I felt like many of them fired on the same nearest enemy each volley, wasting a lot of shots still.

[Huillam]

I'm not fan of charge lasers (at all) but the speed issue can be countered if you happen to unlock the upgrade that teleport your ship to the furthest enemy shortly after the beginning of the battle.
Maybe. The only time I used that one my fighters were quickly swarmed at the beginning of every battle. Again I'm not a huge fan but if you're into charge lasers that could be worth a try.

[varange]

I think the best way to figure out the use of charge laser is to simulate mono runs and pick it for each ship to see how far you can go with them. It's easier with More options on to lower rng.

[ICountFrom0]

Originally posted by 花园骑士:

Originally posted by Elgareth:

For charge lasers to become useful, I think they'd need a bounce mechanic, where overflow damage gets bounced to other targets nearby.

As in, we should introduce plasma chainers instead?/s

Curiously enough, I got an ULTRA RARE that upgraded my weapons to plasma chainers last run.