[w/ Guide] Lasersplosion

by ML-Z on 25/03/2025

Salutes 3

DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine

DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine icon
+4 Rate of Fire
x0.75 Heat per Shot
x2 Projectile Velocity
+200 Battery Capacity
+2 Direct Damage
-70% Horizontal and Vertical Spread
x1.5 Cooling Rate, x0.7 Cooldown Delay
Move 50% faster while the weapon is Overheated and for 2 seconds afterwards.
15% Chance per bullet to inflict an Electrocute DoT which does 22.5 Electric Damage per Second and slows enemies by 80% for 6 seconds.
-5 Direct Damage, +5 Area Damage in a 1m radius
+200% Armor Breaking
When the Heat Meter is greater than 50%, you can press the Reload button to manually activate the Overheat mode. When used in this way, Overheat's duration gets multiplied by x0.65, and also scales with the current Heat level (50% Heat Meter = x0.5 Overheat Duration).
When the Heat Meter is greater than 50%, the Rate of Fire is increased by +5 (up to a maximum of 20 RoF).
Impact Deflection

Zhukov NUK17

Zhukov NUK17 icon
+100 Max Ammo
+1 Direct Damage
+10 Magazine Size
+8 Rate of Fire
-0.6 Reload Time
+1 Direct Damage
x0.4 Base Spread
+1 Penetration
+30% Weakpoint Bonus
+100 Max Ammo
+33% Direct Damage dealt to enemies either being Electrocuted or affected by Scout's IFG grenade
+50% Movement Speed for 2.5 seconds after reloading an empty magazine
Embedded Detonators

Grappling Hook

Grappling Hook icon

Flare Gun

Flare Gun icon

Light Scouting Suit

Light Scouting Suit icon

Pickaxe

Pickaxe icon
Voltaic Stun Sweeper
Voltaic Stun Sweeper icon

Loadout Guide

Preface:

Short(er) Version:

Weapon Upgrades Overclock
DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine 3-2-2-2-2 Impact Deflection
Zhukov NUK17 1-3-2-3-2 Embedded Detonators
Weapon Notes
DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine Upgrades are set to have increased damage and splash damage with faster cooling rate. Aim at the enemies feet so you hit them twice with Impact Deflection.
Zhukov NUK17 Upgrades set to have ammo since its overclock has a nasty ammo reduction. This is the gun to deal with Praetorians, Oppressors, Menaces and anything the Drak cannot reliably kill fast enough.
Tool Upgrades Notes
Grappling Hook X-1-X-X Personal preference. I go with longer reach upgrades.
Flare Gun X-X-X Again, personal preference. 1-2-3 has a good balance between ammo and flare duration for me.
Throwable None Any throwable works well, but IFG, Cryo Grenade and Pheromone Canister are great to go along Impact Deflection. Voltaic Stun Sweeper is an all-purpose throwable that works surprisingly well with this build too.
Light Scouting Suit X-X-1-3 Breathing Room is always a safe choice.

Detailed Explanation:

DRAK-25 Plasma Carbine

  • Weapon upgrades set for projectile velocity, damage and increased cooldown. It's an all-arounder that excels in killing groups trash mobs like Grunts (except Guards) and Swarmers, being good enough to keep you safe even in Swarmageddon warnings. If you have trigger discipline (or the overheat crosshair mod) it'll rarely overheat.
  • To get the most out of Impact Deflection aim the gun at the ground close to the where enemies are so it'll hit the enemies twice; one from the splash damage and then from the direct damage. If done right you'll notice you're doing a lot more damage than if you were just aiming straight at enemies.
  • The area damage ignores armor, so even if you hit an Oppressor from the front you'll still deal a small amount of damage to it. Of course, killing one like this is a huge waste of ammo, but you can do it if the Oppressor, or any similar enemy, is very close to dying without needing to aim too much.
  • You can still use the Drak to hunt targets that usually keep their distance like Acid/Web Spitters and Macteras. Keep in mind that the Drak built this way is nowhere as good at single-target hunting as the GK2 and much less the M1000.

Zhukov NUK17

  • Upgrades set for ammo since this overclock gives a nasty ammo penalty and accuracy since you can't afford to be wasteful.
  • Use this weapon to kill big targets or deal with anything you want dead pronto. For reference: an entire clip of the Zhukov with no damage upgrades shaves at least 1/3, close to 1/2, of a Praetorian's health in vanilla Haz 5 (full team).
  • You can also use it to kill smaller, but problematic enemies like Grunt Guards that would force you to use a lot more of DRAK's ammo. You can use it to kill Macteras (sans Brundles) too.
  • Embedded Detonators is good to kill enemies like Menaces and Stalkers before they hide as well provided you wound and reload before they hide themselves. At medium distances they're great at quickly getting rid of Spreaders as well.
  • IMPORTANT NOTES: 1) Embedded Detonators DO NOT WORK ON HEAVY ARMOR, so you have to aim for the fleshy bits. 2) The damage os Embedded Detonators IS NOT AFFECTED BY WEAKPOINTS. 3) Detonatos DO NOT GET BONUS FROM CONDUCUTIVE BULLETS, only the direct damage from the Zhukovs do. 4) The detonators DON'T GET BONUS DAMAGE FROM FROZEN ENEMIES.
  • In a pinch this weapon can be used to clear small swarms of enemies, beware that the Zhukov is an ammo hose that uses 2 bullets per shot and you can run out of ammunition very fast.
  • Born Ready allows you to reload without triggering the detonatos. You can stack up a massive amount of detonators before reloading this way. If you're intending to use this against, say, Dreadnoughts a red icon will indicate if the reloading explosion will kill them.

Throwables

  • IFG is a good choice for this build as it synergizes well with Drak's Impact Deflection and the extra 30% does buff Embedded Detonators damage (unlike Conductive Bullets, which affects only bullet damage).
  • Cryo Grenade and Pheromone Canister are excellent crowd control throwables and work well with Impact Deflection.
  • Voltaic Stun Sweeper is not a bad choice since you might want to stop an enemy dead in their tracks or a quick way to stun enemies and deal with small groups of enemies or things like Macteras that might cause trouble for you or your teammates.