Retributor

Retuned beam laser that sacrifices direct damage for the ability to dump heat into the targets cooling system.

— In-Game Description

The Retributor is a Beam Laser variant designed to saturate targets with heat rather than direct damage. This weapon is a merit reward in Powerplay.

Usage

The Retributor trades damage for sheer heat output, leaving it with 50% of the strength of the Class 1 Beam Laser, as well as 130% of the Power Distributor draw. However, the Retributor also generates only 77% of the Beam Laser's thermal load, meaning a ship that fires one will experience less internal heat buildup. The additional heat output against targeted ships may seem less useful than direct damage at first, but this heat effect bypasses shields, and if a targeted ship lacks any means of dissipating its heat, it can overheat and suffer severe damage to its modules and hull over time.

Other than reduced damage, the Retributor's other drawback is that for the heat damage to build sufficiently and cause damage and malfunctions in the target, contact with the beam to the target must be maintained continuously. Firing continuously with a beam weapon is not always the easiest prospect at the best of times, and it is particularly difficult to keep fixed beam weapons on-target. Finally, larger ships that were not threatened by Class 1 weapons are still not very threatened by this one, as their own weapons and subsystems likely generate far more heat than the Retributor's effect would, and thus can shrug off its extra heat easily.

A side effect of using the Retributor is that it can heat up NPC targets to the point that they are rendered incapable of boosting. Keeping continuous Retributor fire on a NPC target can therefore hamper its agility and make it much easier to hit them with other weapons.

Specifications

Class	1
Rating	E
Weapon Mode	Fixed
Mass (T)	2.00
Integrity	40
Power Draw (MW)	0.62
Damage/DPS	4.91
Thermal Load/s	2.7
Distributor Draw (MW)	2.52
Armour Pierce Rating	18
Damage Falloff Range (m)	600
Maximum Range (m)	3000
Value(CR)	56,150

Notes

• The Retributor's heat transfer effect is identical to the Thermal Shock Experimental Effect. Retributors can also have Thermal Shock applied to them, allowing them to transfer twice as much heat to a target as a standard Beam Laser with Thermal Shock.