Is it worth upgrading my laser rifle to a pulse rifle?

I have a laser rifle, which does decent damage and can fire 25 shots for each energy pack. I have the required ingredients to convert it to a pulse rifle, but is it worth it, or will that just eat faster into my ammunition supply? How many shots can a pulse rifle do per energy pack?

And I mean "shots", not "ammunition", because I noticed automatic weapons burn 5 ammunition count for each 3-shot burst.

Solution 1:

While a bit late for your question, this may be of use to future users. Upgrading the Laser Rifle to the Pulse Rifle comes with a few difficulties. Firstly, the Pulse Rifle uses a different skill to the Laser Rifle (from the Rifle skill to the Assault Weapon skill). This will mean you will be less accurate, damaging, and durable (durability drops more quickly when your skill with a weapon is low), unless you've invested in the new skill. It also requires a minimum Finesse of 50, slightly higher than the 45 required by the Laser Rifle. If you just meet the Laser Rifle's requirement, it could, depending on class, be some time before you can make up the difference to the Pulse Rifle's requirement, during which time you will suffer numerous penalties to your use of the Pulse Rifle.

Secondly, since the Pulse Rifle is an assault weapon, it fires in bursts of 3, which consumes 5 ammo. It has a magazine size of 60, so it fires 12 times per magazine. Each shot launches 3 projectiles, which can target different enemies, so a total of 36 projectiles per magazine. Comparatively, the Laser Rifle has a magazine of 25, and consumes 1 ammo per shot. So it launches 25 projectiles per magazine. While lower in an immediate sense, it has the benefit of being higher damage (20 per projectile as opposed to the Pulse Rifle's 17), and more controllable. The Pulse Rifle must fire in salvos of 3, which could lead to wastage.

Other miscellaneous considerations are bio mods (5 for LR, 6 for PR), durability (35 for LR, 25 for PR), accuracy (50 for LR, 35 for PR), penetration (120 for LR, 140 for PR), range (10 for LR, 12 for PR), and the possibility of usage in other recipes.