Pulsar

US$ "Energy auto-cannon for medium range. Each round has a chance to immobilize the enemy"

Introduction
The Pulsar is a mid-range (up to 600 meters) medium energy weapon.

Strategy
This energy auto-cannon has a chance to root enemies and a 500 meter range, meaning that it is well-suited to perform as a close-mid range suppressor. What it lacks in firepower, it makes up for in root effect potential. As a bonus, due to it being an energy weapon, the Shredder (along with its medium counterpart the Pulsar) bypasses energy shields.

With its short 5 second reload, robots equipped with the Shredder or Pulsar can be vital in guarding important beacons, stopping enemy robots and allowing teammates with more firepower to race over to help. This tactic of suppressive fire at range can be devastatingly effective on open maps such as Yamantau, Shenzhen and Canyon.

The power to temporarily immobilize enemy robots can be vital in game modes such as Beacon Rush and King of the Hill, where capturing a beacon first can mean not only more points, but also an extra spawn point, which allows for much more intense battles.

The Pulsar has the largest effect on the Dash Bots (Kumiho, Strider, Haechi and Bulgasari). The ability to lock them down and deprive them of their mobility (one of their key strengths) can lead to their destruction or crippling. It can also effectively ground robots that are capable of jumping, in other words it prevents a locked down robot from leaving the ground. It does not prevent Descend robots (Spectre, Mercury, and Inquisitor) from entering stealth, however.

The Haechi in particular is vulnerable, due to it having low base health to compensate for its in-built Ancile. The Strider relies heavily on its 5 Dash charges, with inadequate health for brawling, it relies on mobility. Pinning a Strider down in front of heavily-armed teammates can mean its demise.

Finally, being a medium weapon, the Pulsar has heavier firepower than its light counterpart the Shredder. Also being an energy weapon, the Pulsar can be deadly to ambush robots (such as the Spectre) or robots with in-built energy shields (such as the Carnage). If pinned down, not only will the energy bolts hurt more due to these robots under-average health, but for stealth ability robots such as the Spectre and Inquisitor, they can be left vulnerable if pinned down in the open and unable to move when their stealth runs out.

Mark I Statistics

 * This table shows the damage of each individual plasma round.

Mark II Statistics

 * This table shows the damage of each individual plasma round.

Root Chance %
Notes:
 * The percentages are per second, excluding reload and assuming all rounds hit
 * The percentages apply to both Mark I and Mark II