Pulse Cannon

The DLT-20A Pulse Cannon, or simply Pulse Cannon, is a long-range weapon in DICE's Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars Battlefront II distinct for its powerful green beam. In Battlefront, it appears as a Star Card. An improved, more powerful version of the Pulse Cannon is also used as an ability by the Rebel Alliance hero Nien Nunb. In Battlefront II, it appears solely as an ability for Iden Versio.

Description
The Pulse Cannon is one of the two sniper rifle Star Cards, the other being the Cycler Rifle. An incredibly powerful long-range rifle utilizing the frame assembly of a DLT-20A, the so-called "Pulse Cannon" has become the weapon of choice for many sharpshooters. The power of its shot is dependent on the charge time.

Overview
The Pulse Cannon is about the closest thing a player can get to a sniper rifle in this game, aside from the DLT-19X, Cycler Rifle, and T-21B.

The Pulse Cannon requires a short charge time, displayed by four quarter-circle segments around the center of the screen, or by four small vertically placed dots on the right side of the screen (if zoomed). Once fully charged, it will stay charged and automatically fire after a short time, possibly wasting a potential shot. This can be canceled by pressing the same activation button when player equipped it or by performing a melee attack. Be aware that combat rolling will also trigger a shot, should the player be charging the weapon.

A fully charged Pulse Cannon will kill a player instantly, regardless of distance. This can be used in situations where you charge the rifle up, appear from cover, and kill the enemy. On the other hand, a headshot will always one shot kill, regardless of how charged the weapon is. It also needs a short second to travel, meaning leading shots at mid to long range can be crucial.

It can also damage vehicles to an extent. AT-STs receive little damage, even if it's fully charged, and it is wiser to simply use either an Ion Torpedo or Smart Rocket. Air vehicles receive heavier damage from Pulse Cannons when fully charged, usually ranging to taking around a quarter to half at best, while the likeliness of hitting one is very slim. If the star-fighter is attempting to strafe at low speed head on, this can be a better target since it is coming straight instead of moving at full speed.

The Pulse Cannon particularly shines in long range fights with open space such as Hoth or Jakku on Supremacy or Walker Assault, though it's still useful even on smaller infantry focused modes like Blast since it can easily one shot enemies, although it's much easier to take cover and avoid getting killed.

One of Nien Nunb's abilities is to use a Rapid-Fire Pulse Cannon, which becomes fully powerful almost instantly, and can be reused much faster. He cannot however fire through debris, and he will be damaged if the shot is up close.

When charged or charging, the Pulse Cannon will cause a green lens flare to appear to players that are being targeted and who are looking in the direction of the shooter: this will give targets a chance to roll or duck into cover whilst also giving away the position of the shooter.

Tips
The pulse cannon is extremely powerful for long range players, and for some it even replaces their primary weapon. When using the pulse cannon, be sure to have plenty of cover and a good place to shoot at. Defined specifically, a good shooting zone is a place that has little cover, and is a place many enemies will come through. Using the pulse cannon also requires patience: you may only have one shot at an enemy, so make it count. If you don't think you can make a good shot, don't force a shot. You might waste a shot that could have been used on the guy almost in your sight. Another important thing to know: when a player using the pulse cannon is moving, its accuracy is drastically decreased. It is very important to make full use of the pulse cannon's accuracy by standing still and zooming in.

Trivia

 * It is possible to kill someone other than the person you are aimed at because of the accuracy decrease while moving and not zooming in.
 * The weapon's accuracy does not change while using a jump pack, meaning you can hit cool shots if you can line them up.

Star Wars Battlefront II
The Pulse Cannon is wielded exclusively by Iden Versio. Unlike the first Battlefront counterpart, this Pulse Cannon can be fired multiple times and it has no cooldown.