Changes: LAS-98 Laser Cannon

Revision as of 19:30, 2 March 2020

"This cannon is built on upscaled, weaponized laser technology. It fires a heavy, continuous laser beam that consumes no ammunition unless it overheats. The weapon needs to be loaded with emergency heat dump canisters to fire."
- Armory Description

Stratagem Code

Players must enter the following sequence, using the controller d‑pad, in order to call down this single-use Stratagem during a mission:

Unlock Requirement

The LAS-98 Laser Cannon is granted to the player as a reward for completing all the missions on its associated planet (typically a medium-high level planet - difficulty 7 to 9).

Upgrades

	Cost	Effect
Mk1		Basic variant, no upgrades.
Mk2	1	This upgraded version is built from lightweight materials allowing the Helldiver to move and fire.
Mk3	2	Additional heat dump canisters allow for longer fire time.

Weapon Stats

The weapon comes with 1 Laser Cannon heat dump canister, and can carry up to 3. Picking up ammunition adds 1 canister.

Replacing a canister is only necessary if the weapon is overheated. This takes 6 seconds and immobilizes the Helldiver for the duration.

LAS-98 Laser Cannon Detailed Analysis
Weapon Info			Additional Notes
Unlock Rank	Difficulty 7-9 planet
Weapon Type	Secondary
Weapon Category	Laser
Fire Mode	Continuous
Damage
	Base	Upgraded	Additional Notes
Damage per Second (DPS)	400/s	400/s
Center Mass DPS	900/s	900/s
Statistics
	Base	Upgraded	Additional Notes
Heat Capacity	400	560*	* Requires Mk3 upgrade
Heat Generation	88/s	123.2/s*	* Requires Mk3 upgrade
Cooldown Rate	140/s	252/s*	* Requires Mk3 upgrade
Starting Canisters	1	1	Ammunition crates replenish 1 canister
Max Canisters	3	3	Ammunition crates replenish 1 canister
Reload Speed	6 s	6 s	Has no tactical reload; immobilized while reloading
Spread	0°	0°	Fixed firing pattern; slight aim assist
Range	30 m	30 m	To be confirmed
Aim + Movement Speed Mod	todo	todo
Spread Simulation	todo

Gameplay Tips

The LAS-98 is to the LAS-5 Scythe what the AC-22 Dum-Dum is to the AR-19 Liberator, offering greatly increased damage and boasting the highest damage per second of all continuous laser weapons while having the slowest turn speed while firing and aiming. Like its smaller counterpart, the LAS-98 has perfect accuracy and can be fired continuously as long as its user manages heat generation efficiently, however its higher damage output allows it to take down most enemies faster and even damage enemies the Scythe cannot.
Sweeping fire with this weapon is not recommended against most enemies as it will waste firing time due to hitting off-center and dealing less than 50% damage, or missing entirely. It is recommended to let go of the trigger to adjust your aim or switch between spread out targets to let the weapon cool down and ensure more firing time is spent on-target.
Using a melee attack while aiming completely removes the turn speed restriction of the LAS-98 and lets the user's aim snap to the cursor immediately. Mastering this technique allows users to quickly snap between targets with enough practice while allowing the weapon to cool between bursts.
This weapon has excellent synergy with utility-focused weapons like the RX-1 Rail Gun and AR-14D Paragon. Its effectively limitless ammunition allows Helldivers to use it as a primary weapon and save primary ammo.
Like the AC-22 Dum-Dum, this weapon is able to damage Cyborg Warlords and Hulks so long as the beam hits its targets dead-center, but not Bug Tanks or Behemoths. This gives its users some form of last-ditch offense against the more heavily armored enemies if offensive Stratagems or support from teammates is not available.

The LAS-98 will visibly vent steam when at 50% base heat capacity, and emit both an audible alert and even more steam when at 80% base heat capacity, warning its user that an emergency heat dump is imminent. Use these visual and audio cues to learn the heat up/cool down timing for the LAS-98 to prevent having to change heat dump canisters in the middle of a firefight.

Gallery

LAS-98 Laser Cannon
LAS-98 Laser Cannon's powerful beam

Notes

The LAS-98 is evidently too unwieldy to be used as a melee weapon. When carrying this weapon, Helldivers will perform a melee attack by striking enemies with their fist instead of using the weapon itself. This is purely cosmetic however and attacks will deal the same damage as a regular melee attack.

The LAS-98 Laser Cannon was re-balanced in Patch 3.02. The weapon now has a lower aim speed, to match other shoulder carried heavy weapons.

Weapons
Sidearms	Assault rifles	LMGs	Shotguns	SMGs	Precision	Explosive	Laser tech	Arc tech
P-2 Peacemaker	AR-19 Liberator	MG-105 Stalwart^♦	SG-225 Breaker	SMG-45 Defender	LHO-63 Camper^♦	CR-9 Suppressor^♦	LAS-5 Scythe	AC-3 Arc Thrower
P-6 Gunslinger^♦	AR-22C Patriot		SG-8 Punisher	MP-98 Knight SMG	RX-1 Rail Gun	PLAS-1 Scorcher^♦	LAS-16 Sickle^♦	AC-5 Arc Shotgun^♦
FLAM-24 Pyro^♦	AR-20L Justice		DBS-2 Double Freedom	SMG-34 Ninja^♦	M2016 Constitution		LAS-12 Tanto^♦
PLAS-3 Singe^♦	AR-14D Paragon^♦						LAS-13 Trident
Heavy Weapons
MG-94 Machine Gun – MGX-42 Machine Gun – AC-22 Dum-Dum^♦ – LAS-98 Laser Cannon – FLAM-40 Incinerator – TOX-13 Avenger^♦ Obliterator Grenade Launcher – MLS-4X Commando^♦ – RL-112 Recoilless Rifle – EAT-17 – REC-6 Demolisher^♦ – M-25 Rumbler^♦

Helldivers Stratagems
Supply Stratagems	Resupply – REP-80 – AD-289 Angel^♦ – AD-334 Guard Dog^♦ – LIFT-850 Jump Pack – Resupply Pack – SH-20 Shield Generator Pack – SH-32 Directional Kinetic Shield^♦ MG-94 Machine Gun – MGX-42 Machine Gun – AC-22 Dum-Dum^♦ – LAS-98 Laser Cannon – FLAM-40 Incinerator – TOX-13 Avenger^♦ – Obliterator Grenade Launcher – MLS-4X Commando^♦ – RL-112 Recoilless Rifle – EAT-17 – REC-6 Demolisher^♦ – M-25 Rumbler^♦ EXO-44 Walker Exosuit – EXO-48 Obsidian Exosuit^♦ – EXO-51 Lumberer Exosuit^♦ – M5 APC – M5-32 HAV – TD-110 Bastion^♦ – MC-109 Hammer Motorcycle^♦
Defensive Stratagems	A/AC-6 Tesla Tower – A/GL-8 Launcher Turret – A/MG-11 Minigun Turret – A/RX-34 Railcannon Turret – Airdropped Anti-Personnel Mines – Airdropped Stun Mines – Anti-Personnel Barrier^♦ – AT-47 Anti-Tank Emplacement^♦ – Distractor Beacon – Humblebee UAV drone^♦ – Thunderer Smoke Round
Offensive Stratagems	Airstrike – Close Air Support^♦ – Heavy Strafing Run – Incendiary Bombs – Missile Barrage^♦ – Orbital Laser Strike – Railcannon Strike – Shredder Missile Strike – Sledge Precision Artillery^♦ – Static Field Conductors – Strafing Run – Thunderer Barrage – Vindicator Dive Bomb
Special Stratagems	Emergency Beacon – ME-1 Sniffer Metal Detector – NUX-223 Hellbomb – Reinforce

@@ Line 125: / Line 125: @@
 == Gameplay Tips ==
+* The LAS-98 is to the [[LAS-5 Scythe]] what the [[AC-22 Dum-Dum]] is to the [[AR-19 Liberator]], offering greatly increased damage and boasting the highest damage per second of all continuous laser weapons while having the slowest turn speed while firing and aiming. Like its smaller counterpart, the LAS-98 has perfect accuracy and can be fired continuously as long as its user manages heat generation efficiently, however its higher damage output allows it to take down most enemies faster and even damage enemies the Scythe cannot.
-* The LAS-98 is slower than the [[LAS-5 Scythe]] and has the slowest turn speed of the two continuous-beam laser weapons.
+*Sweeping fire with this weapon is not recommended against most enemies as it will waste firing time due to hitting off-center and dealing less than 50% damage, or missing entirely. It is recommended to let go of the trigger to adjust your aim or switch between spread out targets to let the weapon cool down and ensure more firing time is spent on-target.
+*Using a melee attack while aiming completely removes the turn speed restriction of the LAS-98 and lets the user's aim snap to the cursor immediately. Mastering this technique allows users to quickly snap between targets with enough practice while allowing the weapon to cool between bursts.
+*This weapon has excellent synergy with utility-focused weapons like the [[RX-1 Rail Gun]] and [[AR-14D Paragon]]. Its effectively limitless ammunition allows Helldivers to use it as a primary weapon and save primary ammo.
+*Like the AC-22 Dum-Dum, this weapon is able to damage Cyborg [[Warlord|Warlords]] and [[Hulk|Hulks]] so long as the beam hits its targets dead-center, but not [[Bugs|Bug]] [[Tank|Tanks]] or [[Behemoth|Behemoths]]. This gives its users some form of last-ditch offense against the more heavily armored enemies if offensive Stratagems or support from teammates is not available.
+* The LAS-98 will visibly vent steam when at 50% base heat capacity, and emit both an audible alert and even more steam when at 80% base heat capacity, warning its user that an emergency heat dump is imminent. Use these visual and audio cues to learn the heat up/cool down timing for the LAS-98 to prevent having to change heat dump canisters in the middle of a firefight.
-* This weapon is able to damage Cyborg [[Warlord|Warlords]] and [[Hulk|Hulks]], but not Bug [[Behemoth|Behemoths]].
-* The Mk2 upgrade of the Laser Cannon is a prerequisite for the [[MG-94 Machine Gun]] Mk3 upgrade that lets players move while firing.
 ==Gallery==
-<gallery mode=packed heights="150px">
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px">
 las-98.png|''LAS-98 Laser Cannon''
 las-98_f.png|''LAS-98 Laser Cannon's powerful beam''
@@ Line 139: / Line 141: @@
 ==Notes==
-* The Laser Cannon is too unwieldy to be used as a melee weapon. When carrying this weapon, Helldivers will perform any melee attacks with their left fist, instead of striking enemies with the weapon itself.
+* The LAS-98 is evidently too unwieldy to be used as a melee weapon. When carrying this weapon, Helldivers will perform a melee attack by striking enemies with their fist instead of using the weapon itself. This is purely cosmetic however and attacks will deal the same damage as a regular melee attack.
 * The LAS-98 Laser Cannon was re-balanced in [http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/HELLDIVERS/Patch-Notes-3-02/td-p/45388470 Patch 3.02]. The weapon now has a lower aim speed, to match other shoulder carried heavy weapons.