The Laser Tracer is a weapon manufactured by Gadgetron in Size Matters. It is a vehicular-sized laser cannon retrofitted to be carried by a single user, and was the "last stand" in Gadgetron weaponry.[1] The weapon fires a continuous laser at enemies, while Ratchet stands still when firing, only protected by a shield. The Laser Tracer can be purchased for 85,000 bolts upon reaching planet Quodrona. It can be upgraded to the Optical Maser Array at level 4.
The Titan Optical Maser Array can be purchased in challenge mode, along with the Pierce Mod for 1,250,000 bolts and the Ricochet Mod for 500,000 bolts.
Characteristics[]
The Laser Tracer is a heavy, metallic green cannon with blue highlights. It fires a continuous red line when fired, and Ratchet stands still while firing it. The Optical Maser Array instead fires a purple-blue beam and darkens its surroundings. The Optical Maser Array uses stimulated emission to highly excite captured hydrogen compounds, forcing the resultant amplifying medium into a resonant cavity, capturing the feedback that is created and producing a coherent radiation beam of immense power.[2]
The Pierce Mod focuses the laser crystals in the Laser Tracer more closely, allowing the tracer beam to continue through targets.[3] The Ricochet Mod incorporates refractive subquantum pocket fields to reflect, refract, and ricochet the laser beam off enemies and surfaces.[4]
Combat[]
The Laser Tracer fires a continuous laser in a straight line in the direction it is aimed in, and also creates a frontal barrier that blocks projectiles. Ratchet can steer the direction of the laser to point it at other enemies, but cannot otherwise move with the weapon, forcing you to rely on the barrier for defensive. The Laser Tracer deals a heavy amount of damage against all types of enemies, but leaves Ratchet vulnerable to attack if not aimed properly, and will exhaust ammo quickly if wasted while steering from one enemy to another. If used, it is important to defeat melee enemies as a priority, as these are the only ones that can bypass the barrier if not dealt with first.
In the PSP version, the Laser Tracer is the most powerful weapon in the first playthrough of the game, and can be used to very quickly deal huge amounts of damage to Otto Destruct. However, in the PS2 release, the Laser Tracer consumes ammo twice as quickly and deals less damage per tick, effectively making it obsolete until upgrading.
At V4, the Laser Tracer upgrades to the Optical Maser Array, which can deal huge amounts of damage and destroy most bosses quickly when focused (on PSP) and also has more ammo. Two mods are available in challenge mode. The Ricochet Mod causes a spray of tiny laser blasts outwards after hitting something, making it slightly more useful against secondary targets, but overall a luxury pickup that should not be prioritized. The Piercing Mod, on the other hand, is much more useful, piercing through enemies to hit those behind, making it more effective in increasing damage to secondary targets. Although expensive, the piercing function makes it much more useful against groups of enemies.