The Nefarious Lasertrooper is an elite Nefarious bot in Rift Apart, armed with twin ion-flux lasers, used for cutting down Resistance propaganda and Resistance members. These troopers are the main ranged enemy unit, and will stay away from Ratchet or Rivet and attack from a distance. They walk on three robotic, tentacle-like legs, and like all troopers, have flight capabilities. However, the Lasertroopers are not ever seen using their lasers whilst flying, and must be stood on solid ground to attack. Later into the events of Rift Apart, they are upgraded with more armor and stronger weapons.
History[]
The Lasertroopers are the very first Nefarious Troopers seen in Rift Apart in the opening cinematic hunting Resistance members and insisting they turn themselves in for behavioral modification. A Lasertrooper is then seen pursuing an organic, distressed civilian fleeing the scene, after Rivet steals an infobot from the Emperor's Assistant. Rivet then saves the civilian just before the trooper can execute them, and destroys it with her hammer. In the lower streets area of Nefarious City shown in the introduction cinematic, flying Lasertroopers will patrol the streets in the distance and infinitely respawn when destroyed. They are encountered throughout Nefarious City and arrive at Club Nefarious to pursue Phantom after the Resistance alert is accidentally sounded by Ratchet. When Ratchet infiltrates Nefarious Tower to acquire a royal starship, he attacks Dr. Nefarious and is pursued by several Nefarious Trooper heads, Lasertroopers, and Sluggers, before finally making his escape in a ship.
The Lasertroopers are then encountered by Ratchet on planet Savali, and by Rivet in the debris of Blizar Prime as part of the strike teams sent by Dr. Nefarious to intercept the two lombaxes. They also appear in planet Cordelion's Kedaro Station as security.
At Zurkie's Battleplex, they and many other troopers are fought in the Silver Cup challenge "Ka-Boomstick Blast", exclusively with a Warmonger by Rivet. They and other troopers are fought again in the Gold Cup challenge "LOL, That's Random". When Ratchet, Clank, Rivet and Kit meet up together at Zurkie's to assemble the new Dimensionator, Dr. Nefarious ambushes them and several Lasertroopers with their weapons trained on them, force them to surrender. Soon after though, Ratchet surprise attacks them with his wrench, while Rivet tackles Dr. Nefarious through a window and into the Battleplex to fight him.
Lasertroopers are fought on Sargasso during Emperor Nefarious' invasion, at Zordoom Prison as security forces, and in Megalopolis when the Emperor invades Ratchet and Clank's dimension. Inside the Emperor's Imperial Power Suit, Nefarious Lasertroopers attack Ratchet to stop him destroying the Suit's biomechanical heart. When the Emperor's Imperial Power Suit is destroyed and he loses his composure, he begins opening rifts to bring in all of his armies to make Rivet submit to him, to which many Nefarious Troopers including several Lasertroopers gather and target Rivet with their weapons.
Combat[]
Their beams will begin aimed at the ground, then do a vertical sweep towards their enemies, alternating between arms each sweep. On higher difficulties their sweep is much faster and harder to anticipate, with the Phantom Dash being the best way to dodge them. Dodging their lasers can be tricky, especially with other enemies in the area, as they can predict your movements and will fire in front of where you are moving to cut you off; it is important to understand this attack pattern of theirs so you can successfully avoid their attacks. If there is plentiful cover available in the area, it is recommended to close the distance between them as quick as possible and attack them with hard hitting weapons up close, such as the Enforcer, or use a weapon with a throwing arc you can fire from behind cover, such as the Shatterbomb. At close range they will perform a melee smack attack with their laser arm. Alternatively, if there are many other enemies and/or you are in a large open area with no cover, you may want to destroy the Lasertroopers first and quickly using powerful weapons like the Negatron Collider or Warmonger, so they can not interupt you with their sudden laser attacks.
Behind the scenes[]
In the announcement trailer for Rift Apart from June 2020, the Nefarious Lasertroopers are the first enemies seen. They emerge from a dimensional rift to pursue Ratchet and Clank on Sargasso, to which Ratchet jumps onto a speetle and rams into them.