Small Mobile Laser Cutter
The Small Mobile Laser Cutter is a vehicle used by the Rock Raiders for mining. It is a six-wheeled motorized vehicle equipped with a small Mining Laser for blasting through rock. It did not appear in any sets, and does not appear in any media outside of the video games.
In the PC game
In the Windows PC version of LEGO Rock Raiders, the Small Mobile Laser Cutter is classified as a small vehicle, and requires three Energy Crystals for power. A Rock Raider must be trained as a driver to use a Small Mobile Laser Cutter.
The Small Mobile Laser Cutter can blast through all types of drillable rock with its mining laser. It has a WallDestroyTime of 6 for Dirt, 14 for Loose Rock, and 200 for Hard Rock, and every two laser blasts drains one Energy Crystal. Its extremely slow mining time combined with how much power it uses and the general lack of Recharge Seams in the game makes it rather useless for drilling. It moves at a slow 0.5 blocks per second, and is possibly the least useful vehicle in the game, with its only use lying in recreation. It's not even good for defense, as it only has a range of 1.25 blocks, and only does about -4 HP damage to units per shot.
To do: Verify relationship between WallDestroyTime and actual shots needed, my tests show game speed seems to affect it for some unfathomable reason, but that might just be on my CPU/OS
Upgrades
There is one upgrade available for the Small Mobile Laser Cutter
- Drill: Costs 15 pieces of Ore
This upgrade supposedly upgrades the Laser in some way, but in its .AE file no change occurs. The same laser is mounted; ergo, the end result is a waste of Ore[verify].
Dependency
The Small Mobile Laser Cutter costs 3 Energy Crystals and requires the following for teleportation:
- Rock Raider
- Tool Store [UP1]
- Teleport Pad [UP2]
- Power Station [UP1]
- Support Station [UP1]
In the PlayStation game
The Small Mobile Laser Cutter appears occasionally in the PlayStation version of LEGO Rock Raiders. In the NTSC-U/C version, it always needs to be teleported; in the PAL version, it can just as often be found somewhere in the level. When it needs to be constructed, it can cost either 4, 6, or 8 pieces of LEGO Ore. This vehicle is usually considered necessary to complete a level, and its destruction causes an instant mission incomplete message.
Rather than Energy Crystals, the Small Mobile Laser Cutter is powered by Laser Beam PowerCells that can be picked up in levels. Each PowerCell collected can be used to fire the laser five times (ten if playing as Sparks). A single blast is all that's needed to destroy any rock type in the PlayStation game, making the Small Mobile Laser Cutter essentially the same as a Rock Raider with a Laser Beam, a Large Mobile Laser Cutter, or a Chrome Crusher without a drill.
- SMLC PS1 boom.png
The SMLC bringing down a wall
- SMLC Monster Punch.png
A Rock Monster punching a SMLC
