Do you like rifles? Do you like sentient weapons? Do you think that aiming your crosshairs is overrated? If you answered yes to all these questions, then the LOK-1 Smart Rifle is for you! This gun is part of the Engineer’s arsenal, and it boasts two fire modes. The first mode lets you single tap, and you’ll shoot a bullet at your crosshairs. Simple. The second mode however, is what makes this weapon unique: Holding down the fire button will make an interface appear, that will place incremental indicators on any enemies in range, along with visible tracers that lead from the gun barrel to its target. Upon releasing the fire button, the bullets will exit the chamber and follow the path marked by the tracers. This makes this weapon unique and really fun to use, as you can do some “trickshots” with it, and choose exactly when you want to fire it for maximum efficiency. 

With this in mind, we tested this weapon’s capabilities in combat, and we conjured three great builds for you to try.

3. Seeker Rounds

One of the main weaknesses of the Loki (as we like to call it) is that the bullets won’t go through terrain, which will have you have to position your trace lines correctly if you want to hit something. This takes practice and it gets easier to do, but if you want to bypass this hindrance, this is the build for you. In this build we’ll be taking the overclock Seeker Rounds, which will let any bullets pass through armor and terrain, if they’re being released from a locked state! With this build you’ll be able to effectively kill anything that decides to threaten you.

What Seeker Rounds Excels In?

• This build makes your usage of the Loki more comfortable, letting you worry a bit less about the path your bullets will take.
• This build features a perk that will help you save up on bullets, so your usage becomes more efficient!
• Your locks will take a long time to unlock, which will let you position perfectly or acquire more targets before firing.

Use This Build If…

• You prefer a comfortable playstyle with the LOK-1.
•  You prefer finding the perfect position to shoot while in battle.
• You don’t care about utility or more damage on the LOK-1.

Build details

Increased Caliber Rounds: This perk will increase the damage the weapon deals. If you feel you’re struggling with ammo, you can also take Expanded Ammo Bags.

CCD Array Add-On: This perk lets you keep track of enemies at a wider angle and it also expands the angle at which new locks can be acquired. It synergises well with Seeker Rounds, increasing the lose-lock threshold to 200%!

SMЯT Targeting Software™: We really like this perk. It makes the tracker prioritize targets with lower health and avoids placing more locks than necessary. No bullets wasted with this perk!

Aperture Extension: By taking this perk you’ll be able to lock on more targets at the same time, up to 6 more. If you prefer quicker lock-on speed, you can also take Shutter Speed Sensor.

Electric Generator Mod: By equipping this perk, any target that has 3 locks on them (and gets hit by those 3 bullets) will be electrocuted, slowing down and taking damage over time. This brings some extra damage and utility to the LOK-1, which can’t be scoffed at.

Overclock - Seeker Rounds: This overclock will add Seeker Rounds to the LOK-1, which will make the bullets always hit their target, bypassing armor and terrain. It’ll also increase the Lose Lock Threshold while decreasing burst fire rate and increasing reload time.

• +Seeker Rounds
• x1.33 Lose Lock Threshold
• 47% slower Burst Fire Rate
• +0.5 Reload Time

2. Neuro-Lasso

The Neuro-Lasso build we’re presenting is focused on the utility the LOK-1 brings to the Engineer’s arsenal. It still packs a punch and can be used in any situation, but its main objective is to control swarms while keeping them at bay. With the Neuro-Lasso overclock, locked targets will slow down, creating space for you and your team. This effect stacks per lock, being able to increase the slow to sloth-like numbers! This is a flexible build, letting you change perks that suit your playstyle without losing the impact this build has on the field.

What Neuro-Lasso Excels In?

• This build brings utility to the field, making the LOK-1 an excellent choice to crowd control the bugs!
• Neuro-Lasso builds still pack a punch, since there are no downsides to its damage.
• You’ll find that this build is very flexible, letting you swap perks without losing the main strengths of this build.

Use This Build If…

• You want utility in your loadout.
• You want to crowd control incoming swarms.
• You like flexible builds.

Build details

Increased Caliber Rounds: Who doesn’t like more damage? That’s right, nobody.

CCD Array Add-On: We like taking this overclock to help us lock onto targets and avoid losing locks prematurely.

SMЯT Targeting Software™: This perk will help you manage your ammo better by not overlocking into targets. This might sound counter intuitive, but since the LOK-1 doesn’t have much ammo, we can save up a bit more by taking this perk. If you prefer to go deep into the slowdown mechanics of this build, you can switch this perk with any of the others in this tier.

Shutter Speed Sensor: This perk, like the previous one, is a matter of preference. We prefer locking onto targets quicker, applying the slow in a more timely manner. If you’d rather lock on more targets, you can also take Aperture Extension.

Electric Generator Mod: You already slowed down your targets while keeping the locks engaged, and if three locks are engaged, you will electrocute the targets that were hit, dealing damage over time and slowing them once again!

Overclock - Neuro-Lasso: This overclock slows down locked targets, but it increases the lock-on time and limits the lock-on duration to 5 seconds.

• +Slowdown Locked Targets
• x1.5 Lock-On Time
• Limited Lock-On Duration of 5 seconds

1. Executioner

There’s nothing more badass than Executioner. With this build, you’ll feel like you’re the Terminator inside the caves, the main damage dealer, and ultimately the one that kills all the big threats. This build is all about weak point damage; you’ll have to practice moving your vectors around so that the bullets curve into weak spots. When you do, you’ll find out the immense power of this build, since you can bring down targets with ease, helping your team to deal with anything that gets thrown at you!

What Executioner Excels In?

• This build is all about damage. It excels in dealing damage.
• If you take this build, with enough practice not even Dreadnaughts will be able to survive for long.
• Did we mention dealing damage? Because that’s all that there is to this build. Really high amounts of damage.

Use This Build If…

• You like dealing astronomical amounts of damage.
• You have enough practice with curving the bullets towards weak spots.
• You don’t care about ammo efficiency, or utility. Just damage.

Build details

Increased Caliber Rounds: As we’ve mentioned before several times, this build is all about damage. This perk is about damage. So we take it.

Macro Lens: This perk will decrease the size of the lock-on area to give you more control and focused targeting, while also increasing the lock-on range. Great against big targets!

Electro-Chemical Rounds: You can take whichever perk you want in this tier, but we really like Electro-Chemical Rounds, since you’ll deal more damage to Electrified or Burning targets, which are very easy status effects to apply by either you or your team.

Shutter Speed Sensor: In this build we don’t care about focusing on as many targets as possible, since we’re only caring about killing big targets. That’s why we take this perk, since it will increase the lock-in speed, which will also synergise with the overclock we’re taking.

Unstable Lock Mechanism: When you reach a full lock, you’ll deal even more damage, since this perk adds 20% to all shots fired after you reach maximum locks.

Overclock - Executioner: The bread and butter of this build. This overclock will increase the damage you deal to weakpoints at maximum number of locks! It will also lower the lock-on time, so you can reach that threshold faster. This threshold is lowered by a “negative” on this overclock. You will have a lower amount of maximum locks, but this is a positive for this build, since you’ll reach the thresholds necessary to activate the overclock and perks damage buffs! This overclock also decreases your max ammo and magazine capacity.

• +50% Weakpoint Damage Bonus at Full Lock
• x0.5 Lock-On Time
• -12 Max Ammo
• -12 Magazine Size
• x0.66 Max Targets

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