Beams

"There's a reason why fighters are now unmanned. It has nothing to do with the cost, or the training. You don't have fighter pilots anymore because no one is dumb enough to try playing chicken with the brilliant glow of a chemical laser."

-- Instructor Tarin, on making it clear he had spent far too much time operating laser battery turrets

Beams or Lasers are weapons found an almost every starship on all factions. Their role as both an offensive weapon and a defensive weapon make them a useful tool for every captain that wants to prolong the structural integrity of their ship.

Most beams operate on a fundamental principle of combining various chemicals or energies in a single focused pulse of energy, typically with diminishing returns at short range. Because of their high energy cost and heat generation however, its advised to most captains to not fire them continually and give the turrets time to cool. More than one ship has it fare share of scorch marks from internal blazes.

All beams are capable of Point Defense, the only weapon currently in the game capable of doing so. They are capable of shooting down both Missiles and Fighters in one shot. Point Defense can be activated for all lasers on a ship with the command Ctrl+B.

The following lists the current beams in the game for the three factions. Some faction specific special weapons are beams and are found in the appropriate section, Faction Special Gadgets.