Opticor

The Opticor is a Corpus laser cannon introduced in. It features high damage attacks and a small AoE on impact, with the ability to discharge shots around halfway to deal faster but less potent shots. While the Opticor specializes in high damage and splash damage, its slow charge time and average reload makes it less suited for fast moving, close range enemies.

Characteristics
This weapon deals primarily damage.

Advantages:
 * Extremely high base damage.
 * Deals high damage – effective against armored targets.
 * Charged shots possess the highest base damage of all Assault Rifles
 * Range of the laser is infinite.
 * High Critical chance and Status chance
 * Extremely ammo efficient – uses rifle ammo.
 * Area of effect (about 4-4.5 meters in diameter) can hit multiple enemies close enough together.
 * Does not damage the user.
 * Does not need to charge fully to fire (minimum of roughly a third of its full charge).
 * Pinpoint accuracy.
 * Heavy Caliber's accuracy penalty is minimal on this weapon.
 * Can use the exclusive Firestorm mod.
 * Despite the graphical trail, it is a hitscan weapon.
 * Has a polarity slot.
 * Shots stagger enemies regardless of charge level.
 * One meter innate punchthrough.

Disadvantages:
 * Slow charge time.
 * Additional delay if charge is released pre-maturely.
 * Low Fire Rate.
 * Charging and releasing repeatedly or too early can cause the Opticor to jam.
 * Area of effect damage decreases with distance from the impact area.
 * Area of effect does not trigger if an enemy or corpse is hit with the main projectile.
 * The weapon fires as soon as it has reached a full charge, which can lead to premature firing.
 * Low damage – less effective against health.
 * Targeting beam is not centered with the projectile, and can throw off users who use the laser to directly aim at enemies.

Tips

 * Whilst starting out, make use of the Opticor's starting slot to fit Shred or Serration to enhance its AoE potential, and/or damage output. Heavy Caliber's accuracy drop is also very marginal, making it another good choice.
 * A critical chance increase and/or critical damage increase can offer immense damage when getting a critical. Even simply increasing the critical chance to 50% with Split Chamber and Point Strike is sufficient.
 * Works well in combination with Nova's Antimatter Drop due to the weapon's pin-point accuracy and massive damage, allowing Antimatter Drop to deal large amounts of damage with only a single shot.
 * Shred is recommended for this weapon as it improves the charge time while adding Punch Through. This makes the Opticor much more effective in narrow hallways.
 * The Opticor treats the Shield Lancer's shield as a solid environmental surface, setting off its AoE damage effect. Shooting at Shield Lancers in the midst of enemy Grineer can be a good alternative to shooting the ground to deal splash damage.
 * Unfortunately, due to its low base Slash damage, the Opticor almost never deals deadly Slash procs. However, this can be simulated by modding for Toxin damage and Status chance.
 * If a fully charged shot impacts an Arctic Eximus' Snow Globe, it will deal its explosion damage, dealing heavy damage to everything inside. A well-modded Opticor can destroy an entire squadron of enemies huddled in a Snow Globe with one shot using this method.
 * Mesa's Ballistic Battery counts the explosion damage as a separate shot for charging up Ballistic Battery; it is thus possible to achieve a full charge of Ballistic Battery with a single shot from the Opticor. Additionally, it would seem the damage bonus from Ballistic Battery is spread across the explosion of the shot it is put into (requires confirmation).

Trivia

 * At the time of its introduction, firing the weapon at 50% yielded the same damage as firing at full charge, meaning charging the weapon past 50% served no purpose other than to afford additional time to aim. This was fixed in.
 * There are slight visual differences between partially-charged shots and fully-charged shots; fully-charged shots are wider and leave a short-lived trail of light after the main shot has dissipated.
 * When you start playing Corpus/Grineer Invasion, you can see Corpus Tech holds the Opticor while Prod Crewman holds the Tetra. In-game, however, neither the Opticor nor the Tetra are used by any current Corpus units but two brokers, Ved Xol and Nako Xol under the Loan Reclamation Division.
 * In Vauban Prime Access Trailer, a Crewman holds an Opticor while other two Crewman hold Amprex, but again, both weapons are not used by any Corpus units in mission before The Index Update.
 * The jetpacks worn by Rangers, Quanta Rangers and Penta Rangers are actually made up of four Opticor rifles.

Bugs

 * Upon hitting Volt's Electric Shield, the beam will explode, as the shield is considered a solid surface.
 * This however will not prevent the actual shot, only the AoE blast.
 * Enemies hit by the explosion will be alerted, but other enemies will only be alerted when one of the targets hit by the explosion sees you.
 * Shot is not effected by limbo's stasis

Patch History
Opticor Opticor