MercTech: Lasers

General overview
Lasers function much like they do in vanilla, but there are now a vast number of different models for each laser type. While all lasers in a size group do similar DPS, different manufacturers go about it in a different way. Pilots will find some lasers are capable of dealing more damage with each pull of the trigger, with a longer cooldown time to compensate, while others will opt for a shorter duration and less damage, with a higher rate of fire.

Laser Sizes
Lasers currently come in 3 size classes:

Small:
These are primarily intended to be used en masse by lighter units or as backup weapons on heavier units. Their short range and lower damage limits their effectiveness in heavy combat, but they are light, cheap, and easy to repair.

Medium:
Boasting excellent energy output and range for their relatively light weight, medium-class lasers are an exceedingly common sight on the modern battlefield, with at least one or two mounted on most battlemechs. The Heavy Medium Laser is noted for boasting the most firepower per ton of any battlemech weapon currently in production.

Large:
This is the laser class intended as primary weapons. Large-class lasers, while significantly heavier than their medium-class counterparts, are much more well-rounded in performance, with a good mix of damage, range, and rate of fire.

Standard lasers:
Aside from adding several variations, no real changes were made to the standard lasers' functionality.

These lasers have existed for nearly as long as humanity has been expanding into the Inner Sphere. Their simple designs and common components had made them a mainstay in virtually all the major militaries, and has allowed them to remain in production even throughout the Succession Wars, unlike their more advanced counterparts.

Extended-Range lasers:
Like the standard lasers, the ER Lasers remain virtually unchanged from vanilla.

During the Star League-era, Terran Hegemony scientists developed an advanced variant of the Large-class laser, capable of reaching further than the standard model. Although this came at the expense of greatly increased heat generation, the range increase was well worth it, and the Extended-Range Large Laser would become a popular weapon among Star League forces. This technology was not extended to the Small and Medium-class lasers, as some felt that they would create too much of a range overlap among the different models.

The knowledge required to create the ER Large Laser would be lost during the Succession Wars, although the rediscovery of the Helm Memory Core by the Grey Death Legion in 3028 would allow it to begin production once again shortly before the Clan Invasion. When the Clans invaded, it was discovered that they had applied the technology to all the laser classes, resulting in the ER Small and Medium lasers, as well as reduce the weight and bulk, and increase the effective range and damage output of their large-class laser. The ER Small and Medium lasers would be reverse-engineered by Inner Sphere scientists shortly after the invasion, albeit with inferior range and damage.

Pulse Lasers:
These lasers have seen the biggest changes from their vanilla counterparts. If the beginning of the laser hits a target, the weapon will keep the rest of the pulses on the same location that was hit, so long as the target doesn't escape the cone of adjustment.

Developed by the Terran Hegemony during the Star League-era, pulse lasers differ from other lasers in that they fire a series of pulses rather than a sustained beam. This firing system allows vaporized material, which would normally diffuse the energy from a laser beam, to dissipate in between the pulses, increasing the weapon's effective damage. In addition, the pulse laser can auto-adjust the direction of the pulses to remain on target, greatly increasing accuracy. These advantages come with drawbacks, however, as the need to fire pulses generates more heat than a comparable laser, the range is greatly reduced, and the advanced emitter weights significantly more than a standard model's, increasing the weapon's weight.

Clan-spec pulse lasers have greater damage and significantly increased range over their Inner Sphere counterparts, virtually eliminating one of their greatest faults. Word is that Inner Sphere scientists are attempting to modify existing pulse lasers to reach greater parity with the range of their Clan counterparts. There is also evidence that Clan Wolf was experimenting with adapting ER technology to pulse lasers to further push out their effective range, although there has been no further reports on this since Clan Wolf's schism.

Heavy Lasers:
A new weapon type introduced in Merctech

Developed by Clan Star Adder in 3059, the Heavy Laser is the ultimate word in energy output among lasers. Outputting roughly twice the amount of damage as a comparable Inner Sphere-spec laser for the same or less weight, Heavy Lasers give the Clans a potent weapon against the Inner Sphere when fighting at their preferred ranges.

While Heavy Lasers are capable of devastating damage, there are a multitude of drawbacks associated with them. Their effective ranges are roughly comparable to Inner Sphere standard lasers, and yet generate over twice as much heat. In addition, the medium and large-class lasers are bulkier than their standard and ER counterparts. The most notable drawback, however, is the EM interference generated by the weapon as it fires, which disrupts the mech's targeting system, leading to a potential loss of accuracy.

There has been evidence that multiple Clans are attempting to alleviate the EM radiation issues produced by the weapon, although no working products have come to light at this moment.

Additional notes:
There have been two experimental laser systems in testing in the 31st century.

The first was a mech-scale blazer, dubbed the Binary Laser Cannon, which used two fused large-class laser cores in an attempt to boost effective damage over a standard large laser. Experimentation had ended due to the limited increase in damage, as well as the limitation of Succession War-era technology at the time, in particular sufficiently powerful cooling systems to vent the weapon's immense heat.

The other system, dubbed the Bombast Laser, is seeing ongoing testing in the Solaris Arenas. Unlike current laser systems, it is capable of altering its energy output on the fly, although it is its pre-fire glow that makes it a fan popular weapon in the arenas, rather than effectiveness, so there is doubt whether the weapon will enter production.

3130: There have been sightings of a new laser weapon in use by the Federated Suns that is supposedly capable of ignoring the effects of advanced armors like the Laser-Reflective and Hardened armors.