Approved Submission [ISC Phoenix/PSG] - Spotter Rifle

I'll take this.

Real quick: I can't approve it while it's got the red link. You'll need to remove the PDW link first or complete that submission.

I want to hug the last footnote.

While unorthodox, this weapon certainly is plausible ... up to the point of the damage type.

I can accept ADR3, but I'd like more information on the actual type of damage it causes. You say laser, which makes me think it's just a really hot, nasty beam of energy that burns. Is that the case? Does it have a particle element to it at all? Maybe it fires a kind of plasma, or adds some kind of casing to the "beam" that helps it out? I don't want to mess with the design of the thing, but a plain laser in the SARP universe might be lacking.

I am a little unclear on how particle weapons work exactly, or plasma, and I was hoping to get an assist on that. Could you explain how a particle system works please?

I'll be able to write it in once my internet returns, it seems to have been knocked out by heat. Should be back by this evening, I hope. I can remove the Red Link too.

Don't worry; you've got time.

A particle weapon, as I understand it, involves one of two projectile types — you can either snap off a high-speed cluster of particles that slam/burn/explode into a target, or you can combine "particles" with another energy form to get something more like a Star Wars blaster.

The blaster feels more like your weapon here, which means it needs a gas source. The rest of the weapon should work fine.

Luca gave me the OK to chip in here so I'll throw in my two cents.

While yes, a particle beam, or plasma based medium would be the traditional way to add extra hurt to a weapon this technically doesn't need it.

Here is the deal: A laser weapon cuts out the middle man of a transmission medium (the particles, or plasma in a particle beam, or plasma weapon) instead it converts its entire energetic payload into photons (light) and sends them on their merry way to the target. What happens is when they reach a solid entity they dump all of their energy into what they hit. What this functionally means is that it converts whatever substance is at the point of impact into a cloud of plasma with a huge amount of energy resulting in an explosion more or less.

Now typically the issue with laser weapons is materials tend to reflect some of the photons depending on what it is and what wavelength, and at worst something with properties like zesuaium will just reject all of the transferred energy. In this case however in an atmosphere the energy gets dumped into the nearby air since it scatters off of the target which would cause a more mild, but still rather unpleasant blooming of plasma in the local air as the energy from the initially tightly packed photon beam distributes itself into the atmosphere. Of course in space this doesn't happen and you might as well be shining a flashlight at them.

So yes it has some downsides, but on most targets it'll still flash heat a section of whatever material it strikes and turn it into a nasty ball of plasma.

Edit: There are also the issues airborne particles like fog, dust, smoke, the ablation from the laser's own interaction with the target, that will diffuse a laser and rob it of its energy, but that is more circumstantial and not core to the operation of the weapon so I didn't include it.

More or less if you can clearly see your target it'll hit with its intended punch, however like all weapons its effectiveness is lowered by circumstances in the environment.

We should certainly have that on the wiki then, if it isn't already! While I'd like a brief version of the above added to the rifle's damage description, that will not hold it back from approval.

Also, the batteries — will there be any other weapon that uses them? If not, they can stay on the page, as they're unique and don't cause pasta problems. That said, if another weapon will utilize these batteries, the text should be stubbed and then backlinked to the rifle page.

Either way, can we get a weight on the batteries themselves, so players know how much they can carry?

I've got internet back.

Eistheid and I coordinated and made changes and additions to the article as requested. Battery weight was added, along with some additional notes from Eistheid about the firing. I removed the red link with the finishing touches. Give it another swing, Doshington!

Ah, was wondering about recoil. That's good!

Improvements noted and enjoyed. Approved.