Shard Diffractor
 Unlocked through an assignment.
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Requires Engineer  21
Purchased for:
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| “ | To keep it from detonating like a thousand pounds of TNT, the Shard Diffactor is limited to short, controlled bursts, but don't let that depress you - it's powered by a 12-pound chunk of Ommoran Heartstone, and is able to vomit forth thick beams of raw energy, reducing anything in it's path to a mound of cinders |
| — Weapon Description |
The Shard Diffractor is an unlockable secondary weapon for the Engineer. It is an intricately designed laser cannon consisting of various electrical and mechanical components. A shard of Ommoran Heartstone rests in a central chamber and is surrounded by three plasma torches rigged with wiring. Upon using the weapon, the shard becomes superheated which emits a beam of destructive energy that incinerates enemies.
In addition to having infinite range, the Shard Diffractor inflicts continuous damage onto any target impacted by the beam along with anything surrounding the impact point. The beam will also cause an enemy's temperature to rise, eventually resulting in them being ignited. As the weapon description claims, slain enemies will be reduced to a rapidly-dispersing cloud of ash, preventing some on-death effects (such as the Praetorian's gas cloud) from occurring.
The Shard Diffractor also features a battery with a maximum charge capacity rather than a conventional magazine; firing the weapon drains the battery while releasing the trigger will automatically recharge the battery, which draws from the weapon's total capacity. Furthermore, the battery must be fully charged in between uses and there is a brief spinup delay before the weapon can begin firing.
Modifications
| Shard Diffractor Modifications | ||||||||||||
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| Mod | Effect | In Game Description | Price | |||||||||
| Tier 1 |  Impact Splash |
+2 Area Damage | "Releasing a screw from the stability safety mechanism causes the beam to more forcefully rupture outward on impact, increasing area damage." |
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 Increased Energy Density |
+2 Direct Damage | "The energy density of the beam is increased, improving direct damage." |
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 Larger Battery |
+100 Total Capacity | "R&D custom fitted you with larger battery, increasing the max capacity." |
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| Tier 2
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 Soft tissue Disruption |
+33% Weakpoint Damage Bonus | "Hit'em where it hurts! Literally! We've upped the damage you will be able to do to any creature's fleshy bits. You are welcome." |
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 Particle Spattering |
+0.8m Effect Radius | "By including a stronger gas flow through the beam particles the damage area around impact zone is increased." |
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| Tier 3
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 Aluminum Foil DIY |
+50 Charge Capacity | "Placing a simple aluminum ball between the battery and main capacitor was enough to transfer a lot more juice with each charge! Who even needs R&D anymore?" |
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 Open Structure Battery |
-0.8s Charge Time | "Opening the structure of the battery with a new experimental material enables much faster charging!" |
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| Tier 4
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 High-Intensity Heating |
+75% Direct target heating | "A tweaked beam oscillator increases the intensity of the thermal shockwaves on direct impact, transferring more heat to the target." |
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 Nitrogen Vaporizer |
+400% armor breaking | "Rerouting nitrogen gas through the beam increases its pressure power density and enables it to melt armor plating." |
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| Tier 5
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 Hydrogen Rupturing |
+33% additional damage against electrocuted enemies | "By adding hydrogen to the gas mixture the beam molecules will be pushed apart with electrocuted enemies, increasing damage dealt." |
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 Bio-Mass Converter |
+Bio-mass Converter | "An invention with a purpose of making war more energy efficient has been added as a fancy attachment, enabling your weapon to extend the current beam duration with every kill." |
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 Dazzler Module |
+80% Slow Movement On Hit | "A special dazzler lens is attached to the weapon, making the beam emit a strong infrared light on impact, slowing down enemies in the area of effect." |
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Overclocks
Overclock calculations happen after modifiers.
 Shard Diffractor [Expand/Collapse]
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| Overclock | Effect | In Game Description | Price | ||||||||
Efficiency Tweaks
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"Careful tweaking has resulted in greater charge capacity as well as an increase in total capacity." |
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Automated Beam Controller
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"Removing manual control and automating the fire sequence improves speed of opperation and allows for a significant expantion of the total battery capacity. However the charge capacity had to be reduced to prevent overheating. Manually interrupting the beam stresses the capasitor, resulting in a loss of some of the remaining charge." |
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Feedback Loop
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"Heavy modifications to the weapon keeps excess energy within the beam, increasing the radius and damage of the area of effect while the beam is fired. However the changes leave little room for the battery, reducing the maximum energy capacity of the weapon." |
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Volatile Impact Reactor
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"A mixture of high energy and atomic frequency tuning lets you temporarily turn dirt and rock into magma, damaging and potentially igniting any enemy that walks across it." |
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Plastcrete Catalyst
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"The beam has been finely tuned to violently react with plascrete platforms, increasing AoE damage and range. If the beam is held long enough the reaction becomes unstable causing a significant explosion at the impact point. The tweaks come with a limited charge rate to avoid frying the circuits and both the charge capacity and total capacity are reduced." |
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Overdrive Booster
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"Drastically increase the energy throughput by pressing the reload button while a beam is firing. Unfortunately maintaining control requires that you stand still while firing a boosted beam and the weapon cannot stop firing while boosted until the capacitor is fully discharged. Manually interrupting the beam stresses the capacitor, resulting in the loss of some of the remaining charge." |
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+50 Ammo Capacity 
0.8x Charge Capacity
Stats Breakdown
Understanding the Weapon
- Damage is how much damage is dealt upon direct impact of the beam.
- Damage Type: 25% Fire, 75% Disintegrate
- Material Flags: Weakpoint, Frozen
- Area Damage is how much damage is dealt in addition to the direct damage within the damage radius around the impact.
- Damage Type: 25% Fire (conversion bonus: no radial flag, no fall-off), 75% Disintegrate
- Area Damage Behavior: Radial
- Material Flags: none
- Charge Up Time: 0.2s
- Recharge Time: 1.6 seconds
- Recharge Time is reduced by a % relative to the charge capacity left when the trigger is released.
- Movement Speed While Using: 50%
Unique Modifications
Bio-mass Converter
Bio-mass Converter is a tier 5 modification that refunds 3 ammo each time an enemy is killed.
Cooldown: 0.25s
Excluded enemies include:
Unique Overclocks
| Unique Overclocks | ||
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For every second that the beam is continuously held, the Shard Diffractor gains a bonus to area damage and damage radius. There is no limit to the amount of stacks that can accrue over time, and all stacks will reset once the Shard Diffractor stops firing. |
Stacking bonus gained each second:
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When the Shard Diffractor's beam comes in contact with terrain, it leaves behind a trail of hot magma which deals both Fire and Heat damage while slowing enemies that come into contact with it. |
Magma Trail:
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While the Shard Diffractor's beam is in contact with any amount of platform material, the area damage and damage radius are boosted by 50%. After one second of uninterrupted contact, the beam will trigger an explosion centered on the point of contact, dealing a significant amount of damage and carving a small amount of terrain. |
Plastcrete Explosion:
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Pressing the reload button while firing will put the beam into Overdrive, increasing damage output and ammo consumption at the cost of movement speed and recharge time. The beam will also fire until the charge is drained. Similar to Automated Beam Controller, manually stopping the beam by swapping to another weapon or using the pickaxe will consume 50% of the remaining charge. |
Overdrive Effects:
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Skins
Full gallery of skins can be seen at Weapon Skins.
Gallery
Trivia
- Teaser trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta4F6k3MnhY
- The Shard Diffractor's weapon prototype used the Cryo Cannon model.
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