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MechWarrior Online Wiki
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===Duration=== Duration is the time a laser weapon takes to deal its full damage. Recycle time does not begin until after the duration is finished. A shorter duration makes it easier to inflict damage with lasers on moving targets and/or while you yourself are moving. Long answer: Lasers don't do instant damage. They fire for a length of time, with the listed damage divided over that length of time. For example, a Medium Laser has a duration of 0.9 seconds and does 5 damage. If you're firing at someone and slice across them, going from the LA, LT, CT, RT, RA, and then missing them entirely for a bit before the laser stops firing, then that 5 damage gets divided between those five areas and no damage. The amount of that 5 damage that goes to each is determined by the percentage of the 0.9 seconds that it hit that area. If you want to do all five damage to a single section, then you have to hold the beam on that section for the full 0.9 seconds. That can leave you vulnerable. The recycle time (to fire again) also doesn't start until the laser stops firing. So, with a -10% laser duration perk, a Medium Laser will have a duration of 0.81 seconds instead of 0.9. A shorter duration makes it easier to apply as much of the full 5 damage to your target as possible. Pulse lasers have much shorter duration times to begin with, which most people consider to be their primary benefit. You can do more aiming, shooting, and moving, rather than aiming, shooting, waiting... and then move. ER Large Lasers will get the most out of it, followed by regular Large Lasers, then Medium, then Small, then Large Pulse, Medium Pulse, and Small Pulse, in that order. Clan lasers have considerably longer durations than the Inner Sphere lasers. You also get a slight increase in DPS and HPS (heat per second) since the true time between shots is recycle time + duration.
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