Lasers are a separate weapon type available only in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel.

Overview

All lasers spawn with an element, Incendiary being the default and the most common. Exceptions to this rule are the E-GUN (formally non-elemental ^[1]), MINAC's Atonement (cycles between incendiary, shock and corrosive), and Laser Disker (explosive). Although lasers are only produced by four manufacturers (Hyperion, Dahl, Tediore and Maliwan), each manufacturer produces a very different style of barrel and body which are interchangeable with all laser types, making lasers perhaps the most varied weapon type in the game.

Being a distinct weapon type, lasers have their own unique ammunition pool (usually referred to as "cells"), represented by a coil icon and a pickup item reminiscent of a battery or power supply. Laser ammo has the highest storage capacity of any type, serving as a sort of universal power source: unlike most weapon types, lasers that use more than one round per shot are the norm rather than the exception, dramatically adding to their variety and versatility.

Naming

Title

Like all weapons in Borderlands, common-rarity lasers take their names from their body and barrel manufacturers.

Prefix

Laser prefixes are determined solely from the weapon's grip and element. The presence or absence of an accessory (rare, on a laser) has no effect on the weapon's prefix. Only Hyperion Lasers may spawn with melee accessories.

Incendiary lasers, the most common variety, take their prefix from the manufacturer of the grip part. Note that on a laser, the grip part extends horizontally from the left side of the foregrip, where it is difficult to identify in profile. The easily profiled handgrip on the rear of the weapon is part of its buttstock, which affects the weapon's recoil and handling, but not its name.

Lasers of other elements take their prefix from their element, disregarding the grip manufacturer.

Weapon Barrels

A laser's Barrel gives the weapon its signature firing type.

• Dahl-barreled Blaster lasers resemble assault rifles in function, putting out a barrage of blaster bolts that travel at moderate speeds with decent accuracy.
• Hyperion-barreled Railgun lasers fire a single powerful and accurate energy bolt that travels at a moderate velocity. Most railguns consume 4 laser ammo per shot and their fire rates are often lower than 1.
• Maliwan-barreled Beam lasers put out a continuous beam that excel at damaging enemies for a long period of time. They have a short range, consume ammo quickly, and suffer from massive recoil, causing most Beam lasers to swerve wildly if fired continuously.
• Tediore-barreled Splitter lasers fire multiple beams in a spread while consuming 3 ammo per shot. Tediore Splitters fire six beams, while Splitters from other manufacturers fire three.

Dahl Barrel

Hyperion Barrel

Maliwan Barrel

Tediore Barrel

Weapon Bodies

Depending on the manufacturer of the laser's body, a laser can spawn with manufacturer-specific gimmicks that either coincide well with the laser's barrel, or barely elevate its usage.

• Lasers with Dahl bodies have the Dahl gimmick of burst-fire while scoped, along with recoil reduction. However, they also come with the innate ability to penetrate enemy targets, making them useful for crowd-control, especially when used after throwing a singularity grenade. Most barrels work well with Dahl bodies as there is typically no downside apart from occasional wastage of ammo if a single shot is sufficient to kill a target.
  • Dahl Beams fire a brief beam laser when zoomed in, which offers higher stability and burst damage in exchange for the ability to hold down the beam when scoped.
  • Dahl Railguns and Splitters burst fire when zoomed, ranging from 2-4 shots per burst, but still tend to stray off the crosshairs.
• Lasers with Hyperion bodies start off with low accuracy that increase the longer the weapon is fired (reverse recoil). Additionally, they are given a hefty critical hit damage boost, making Hyperion-bodied Railguns extremely useful as a sniper rifle of sorts. Hyperion Railguns also have perfect (100.0) accuracy indicated on the weapon card; this accuracy, however, is only attained when aiming down the sight.
  • Beam and Blaster Lasers with Hyperion Bodies do benefit from the reverse recoil and can are devastating at medium to long range, but Splitters still tend to deviate often.
• Lasers with Maliwan bodies come with the highest elemental damage and chance out of all manufacturers, making them reliable for inflicting elemental status effects. They also come with a continuous damage bonus, making their lasers more damaging the longer the trigger is held. This coincides well if a laser spawns with a Maliwan Barrel, as the beam will be able to rack out significant amounts of damage over a short period of time, which is useful against larger and stronger enemies.
  • Due to Railguns being slow-firing and precision-focused, Maliwan Railguns generally benefit less from the damage bonus.
• Lasers with Tediore bodies are generally weaker overall that other manufacturers, apart from firing more bolts with the Splitter Barrel. Additionally, reload-thrown copies act like Tesla grenades, dealing minuscule shock damage before they explode

Parts

Dahl-bodied Lasers reload by removing a chip-like magazine from the left of the weapon, then replacing a new one, finishing with a twist of a knob on the gun.

Hyperion-bodied lasers reload in a break-action fashion similar to Jakobs Shotguns, taking out the empty battery, loading a new one in, then closing the weapon.

Maliwan-bodied lasers eject a capsule from the left side of the weapon, where a new capsule is reloaded.

Tediore-bodied lasers, like all Tediore weapons, are not physically reloaded. The weapon is thrown forwards adhering to normal physics, and a new one is digistructed in the user's hands.

See Also

• List of lasers in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

References