ARC Raiders Vaporizer Laser: How to Survive It?

The cheapest way to die in ARC Raiders is getting vaporized by a single laser from the Vaporizer. It's not like the other ARC machines, it doesn't charge you, it locks a laser onto your head and sets the floor on fire, and the first time most people meet it, the shield's gone in a second and they're on the ground right after. It's vaporized me more than once too, until I finally learned its patterns and realized surviving this thing is ninety percent positioning and movement, not aim. Here's how to read its lasers, dodge them, and find the moments you can actually shoot.

Know the Vaporizer's three lasers first

The Vaporizer doesn't have just one laser, it has three: a lock-on, a ground sweep, and a barrage, and each one dodges differently, so if you mix them up you're in trouble. Get the three straight before you fight.

• The single lock-on laser charges while staring at you, then fires through your shield and ignites you, and the only way out is breaking line of sight with cover.
• The ground sweep drags a beam across the floor and leaves a fire trail behind, so don't stand next to your squadmates or it takes everyone at once.
• The multi-target barrage splits into smaller shots at several players, and each one still hurts, so spread out when the team's around.

The deadliest of the three is the lock-on laser, because once it's on you it won't let go, and most of the movement and cover tips below are aimed at that one.

Never trade shots in the open, hug cover instead

The worst thing you can do against a Vaporizer is fight it with nothing to hide behind. It has a charge animation right before it locks you, and that's your only window to move, but most people panic and sprint straight backward, which keeps them right in its tracking line and their shield still gets shredded. What you should do instead is fight near hard cover the whole time, rocks, buildings, containers, anything, and the second it locks you, duck behind it and the laser can't get through. One small thing: don't hug the cover too tight, leave half a step, or the fire can still lick you around the edge. Better to miss a couple shots than to drop dead in an open field.

How to move once the laser locks onto you?

Once you're locked, your gun won't save you, your movement will, and these are the things I figured out the hard way.

• Don't run straight back, strafe left and right to break out of its tracking line fast.
• Throw a smoke grenade or use a high-low elevation change, breaking its line of sight forces the lock-on to reset completely.
• Don't stack up with your squadmates, the ground fire and barrage love a crowd.
• Line up a second cover spot ahead of time, so when it circles your first one, you've got somewhere to go.

All this comes down to don't stop, don't run straight, and don't bunch up, and when you can't shake it, drop smoke to break the line, do that and the laser mostly can't touch you.

Its shield is your free breather

That shield the Vaporizer throws up scares new players, but it's actually the safest part of the whole fight, and used right it beats any fancy footwork.

• While the shield is up it won't attack, and the laser won't fire, so use that time to reload, heal, and reposition.
• The shield comes up in response to your damage, so you can deliberately trigger it with cheap throwables and keep the timing in your hands.
• The instant the shield drops, don't hesitate, dump your heavy damage, because the next ten-some seconds are your golden window.

Treat the shield like a halftime break and the rhythm smooths out, and you won't get caught standing there reloading with a laser in your face.

At its core this fight is a test of positioning and nerves, not aim. Read the lasers, find your cover, move right when you're locked, and use the shield, do those four and the Vaporizer goes from vaporizing you to handing you materials. Now when I run into one, my first move isn't reaching for my gun, it's checking for cover nearby, and that habit alone cut my death rate way down. The Vaporizer Regulators you haul home add up to a Dolabra Energy Shotgun, which is a deal worth taking.