Lasers, a Trap?

[Merlin]

Lasers. I love them. Great upgrade for my copters and makes them ammo sinks for at least one weapon slot. Oh wait what about lasers for the troops? Nope skip over them.

Is it just me or are lasers only good for your interceptors and maybe, maybe laser AA guns(Don't know haven't used them). Trying to research up to rifles is kinda a waste I almost always find. Few reasons for this;

1) Solid Weapons don't lose their effectiveness for awhile.
2) You need Weapon and Ammo researched to use.
3) Most the time for me, when I finally get rolling on the laser weapons; the aliens are armored, bring that green stompy alien along with them, and have plasma rifles and blasters.

My first few times playing the game I went messed around with the tech tree and ended up getting plasma rifles in about a month of them showing up. Then I was sitting on 20 of the things and more ammo than I knew what to do with. Every time I try for lasers since then, it seems like a complete waste.

So how about your thoughts? Laser, good investment or trap in the tech tree?

[H-Hour]

Lasers have been changed a lot in 2.5-dev. From a previous post I'm guessing you're on 2.4. In 2.4 it depends a lot on your play style. Laser rifles were weak but very accurate, so players who like maintain maximum distance and play shootout lottery liked them a lot.

In 2.5-dev they've been changed pretty heavily: damage, accuracy, success vs. alien armour and even their position in the tech tree. Personally I found them key mid-game weapons.

[Merlin]

Well yeah I'm playing 2.4 because I'd like for 2.5 to be put out in a more stable state before getting it.

Good to know that lasers have changed in 2.5 a bit.

[ShipIt]

For 2.4 I think you are right. In 2.5-dev thing changed a lot, not only regarding the tech tree. The Laser Rifle has a lower weight than the Plasma Rifle, wich makes it very useful especially for rookies in mid to late game stages.

Also, you should give 2.5-dev a try. It´s sooooooo much better than 2.4  .

[Merlin]

Don't know where to find 2.5 as it's not on the download page. That and since 2.4 sometimes crashes I worry about what 2.5 will do.

That said I think one reason it's a trap is the long time it takes to get rifles, at least to me. So did 2.5 lower the time it takes to research them?

[kurja]

Don't know where to find 2.5 as it's not on the download page. That and since 2.4 sometimes crashes I worry about what 2.5 will do.

That said I think one reason it's a trap is the long time it takes to get rifles, at least to me. So did 2.5 lower the time it takes to research them?

Scroll down on that downloads page, it's right there at the bottom. I've always found dev versions of ufoai to be quite stable and by playing you also get to help the devs by reporting on any glitches you find

I haven't played in a bit but as I recall you don't get lasers any sooner, later if anything, but once you do get them they are very useful. Depends on your personal style and taste ofc. In 2.5 you'll also find a new encumbrance system; laser rifles weigh less than regular assault rifles, and way less than sniper rifles which makes them all the more covetable.

[Visitor]

Actually, right now both lasers and AA launchers are rather crappy even in the dev version (unless their stats were adjusted in the last two or so weeks) - the only alien craft that goes through the middle of their range radius and gets shoot down is scout, occasionally a fighter. I had a base with a launcher and two lasers - couldn't take down anything beside those two types of vessels, unless it was flying back and forth, to, for example, bomb the nearby installation. But for actual base defence? Rather useless, even fighter can get through before being shot down, better build other facilities there.

[kurja]

Actually, right now both lasers and AA launchers are rather crappy even in the dev version (unless their stats were adjusted in the last two or so weeks) - the only alien craft that goes through the middle of their range radius and gets shoot down is scout, occasionally a fighter. I had a base with a launcher and two lasers - couldn't take down anything beside those two types of vessels, unless it was flying back and forth, to, for example, bomb the nearby installation. But for actual base defence? Rather useless, even fighter can get through before being shot down, better build other facilities there.

the thing is that heavy alien vessels about to attack your base often can't be taken down with your interceptors or at least you'd risk loss of aircraft, if you have lasers/missiles at the base it becomes a different fight

[Visitor]

the thing is that heavy alien vessels about to attack your base often can't be taken down with your interceptors or at least you'd risk loss of aircraft, if you have lasers/missiles at the base it becomes a different fight

Though in practice I found that at the point when your interceptors take down heavy alien crafts, they can often do it on their own - and while you're right, turrets can help somewhat, I cannot say that 'help somewhat' is worth several fields of basebuilding space, when you could build one more hangar and some other facilities and then construct one more proper interceptor instead, acquiring both increased efficiency and utility (one more fighter you can actually also send to pursue ufos elsewhere and aforementioned facilities doing whatever they were meant to do) while maintaining defensive potential for the base.

[kurja]

I agree.

[FelixDrake]

Lasers are absolutely NOT a trap, you just need to understand what to expect from them.
They are absolute gold for taking down unarmored targets at extreme range. They will also let you hit your target a LOT of times, giving great close/assault skill gains.

If you were expecting them to do the job against heavily armored targets, sucks to be you.
You will get a lot of weapon skill right up until the moment mr. Ortok rearranges your internal organs with a kerrblade.

I research electromagnetic weapons first.   It is a pretty fast research, gives you assault and sniper practice, and on a skilled soldier, it wrecks things better than any weapon which you can make ammo for without burning alien materials with the exception of grenade launcher airbursts.
That said, the ammo is NOT cheap, at about $1000 per eight shot clip.

Researching laser rifles and pistols next, or right after armor, gives you that long range capacity at a more reasonable price point, and gives you much needed target practice before whatever is too heavily armored for the lasers walks close enough for the grenade launchers and bolters to level them...

On the subject of research, NEVER sell all your plasma grenades until you research them. At some point, the aliens will stop carrying them in favor of the plasma blades.  Also, the ones you sold will get bought out.  If this happens, you will be permanently locked out of plasma GL ammo, which is double plus ungood.