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Research Credits: Beam Weapon Branch

Beam Weapons

“Having successfully disabled the Sectoid alien without terminating it, we were presented with a unique opportunity to study an intact version of the weapon integrated into its forearm. Although we've yet to devise a plasma weapon or our own, we believe aspects of this technology can also be applied to our existing laser-based prototypes. This should contribute to a reduction in the research and development time spent on these weapons.” (official game description)

The top-level of Beam Weapon Technology applies to the following subsections:

(A) Foundry Projects

Ammo Conservation: “Muton armor contains servomotors that function as automatic weapon loaders, allowing their weapons to carry more ammunition without requiring the soldier to pause for a full reload. We could apply some of the same techniques to our own weapons.”

Unlocking this tech for the research that will make it available to you and your team requires you to have completed the Muton Autopsy first. This improvement to your existing tech has the effect of doubling the available ammunition for the primary weapons.

Obtaining this expanded technology requires the following outlay:

• $150 of cost;
  
• x45 Alloy available in your inventory;
  
• x20 Weapon Fragments available in your inventory;
  
• x6 Muton Corpses available in your inventory;*
  
• x15 Engineers available in your Workshops;
  
• 4 days development time.
  

* Requirements for unspecified upgrades such as these tech additions are why we do not sell alien corpses via the Gray Market, just saying...

S.C.O.P.E. Upgrade: “The portable targeting module called 'S.C.O.P.E.' could be upgraded to highlight sensitive points on the enemy targets. We believe that the chance of critical shots would increase accordingly.”

Obtaining this expanded technology requires that you have fully researched the Weapon Fragments tech as part of the tech tree, and in addition to that requires the following:

• $70 - or $35 with the Future Combat Bonus Applied;
  
• x15 Weapon Fragments available in your inventory;
  
• x10 Engineers available in your Workshops;
  
• 8 Days development time - or 4 days with the Beam Weapons Research Credit Applied.
  

Results in Play: having the now improved advanced version of the S.C.O.P.E. in place, the newly expanded tech gives your old existing models as well as newly purchased ones a gain of +10% critical hit chance, which is sort of the point.

S.H.I.V. Laser: “Now that we can produce high output laser weapons, we could swap out the conventional mini-gun our S.H.I.V. units currently use in favor of a laser cannon.”

Obtaining this expanded technology requires the following:

• $100 of cost;
  
• x30 Alloys from your inventory;
  
• x15 Weapon Fragments from your inventory;
  
• x10 Engineers available in your Workshops;
  
• 2 days development time.
  

(B) Research Projects

Beam Weapons: “Our research into alien weapon fragments led to the idea of portable laser weaponry. Our early prototypes have been encouraging, but we continue to struggle with issues related to heat dispersion.”

The intense study of the different methods used by the aliens to manage energy consumption and heat dissipation in their weapons has resulted in the development of new laser-based weapons for our troops that exceed the previous capabilities and improve the combat effectiveness for our combat units - with this tech being genuinely considered a force multiplier.

The process by which this technology is acquired requires that you obtain a reasonable supply of Weapon Fragments, that you properly and completely research the Weapon Fragments, and that you fulfill the materials requirements including x5 Alloys and x10 Weapons Fragments.

Completing this branch of the tech tree will unlock the Laser Pistol and Laser Rifle for fulfillment via your Engineers, as well as unlocks and makes available the Precision Laser and Heavy Laser standard research projects, as well as the Improved Pistol II Foundry Project.

Heavy Lasers: “Our early experiments with oversized coolant coils and doubles lensing have shown the potential to greatly increase the firing of our laser weaponry. We may be able to use these advances in the development of ship based cannons for our interceptors as well.”

The application of advanced technology acquired via the prerequisite technologies researched to unlock advanced weapon systems for our fleet of Interceptor aircraft served to provide - in addition to the anticipated more powerful laser-based air-to-air weapons systems - comparable man-portable versions for our ground troops that have resulted in another set of weapons whose effectiveness also serves as a force multiplier.

In addition to the above noted results, research along this branch of the tech tree has resulted in unlocking the Heavy Laser and Laser Cannon for manufacture by our Engineering Workshops, as well as the S.H.I.V. Laser systems within the Foundry environment.

Requirements for the manufacture and development of the same require the following uniform resources:

• Beam Weapon Technology having been previously unlocked and fully researched;
  
• 160 Points spent in research;
  
• x5 Alloys from the available inventory;
  
• x5 Weapons Fragments from the available inventory;
  
• The variable time required to complete these research projects together.
  

Precision Lasers: “The alien weaponry appears to use a series crystalline lenses to increase the power output of their weapons. While we can't recreate their materials, we can adapt their techniques to increase the range and power of our own laser weapons.”

In addition to the anticipated advanced tech research and foundry projects resulting in a large number of failed experiments, the continued research along this tech branch of the tree have resulted in the successful refinement of an accelerated energy pulse via a narrow-field lens which maintained an adequate level of efficiency of energy levels for both the vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft (or in this case anit-spacecraft) as well as man-portable field weapons.

The results are an extremely capable weapon system not unlike the traditional sniper rifle, with a much higher chance of inflicting critical damage. This weapons system is now ready for deployment in the field, following Dr. Shen's approval of the fabrication process.

The results of these experiments and the completed designs for the above referenced weapons systems have unlocked the Scatter Laser and Laser Sniper Rifle weapons systems, with the final design requiring:

• Full completion of the Beam Weapons research tree;
  
• 160 points expenditure in research costs;
  
• x5 Weapons Fragments taken from your inventory;
  
• x5 Alien Alloys taken from your inventory.