How to use the L-STAR in Apex Legends: Tips, damage stats & DPS

The L-STAR is one of the most unique weapons in Apex Legends, but how can you master this high-damage energy weapon to secure yourself a dominant win? 

Apex Legends’ L-STAR performs very differently to the majority of weapons in the game. This is partly down to its unique mechanic, which allows players to continuously fire until the gun overheats. 

While it certainly doesn’t lack in the damage department, it can be tricky to master due to its slow projectile speed and recoil pattern. As a result, many players often ditch the L-STAR in favor of reliable weapons like the Spitfire and 30-30 Repeater.

However, after a set of huge buffs following the Season 10 update, it may be time to pick up the L-STAR  and make it one of your go-to guns in Apex.

Apex Legends L-STAR damage stats

The L-STAR shreds in close-quarter firefights.

Before you go blasting anything that moves, you’ll want to get to grips with the L-STAR’s damage profile first. After all, this gun is capable of some dizzying damage numbers. This is especially true when you land those all-important head and bodyshots. 

While the L-STAR will overheat after 22 continuous shots (26 with Modded Loader), it still deals decent damage across both close to medium engagement ranges, particularly when you fire it in short bursts.

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With the Season 10 buff, the L-STAR can now equip energy magazines, allowing the gun to fire more shots before overheating and cool off quicker. Not only that, barrels can now be attached to the L-STAR to bolster the weapon’s heavy recoil pattern.

These are some huge buffs to a weapon that was considered underrated before the changes, so we’ll have to see if it moves up any places in the weapon tier list. The full damage breakdown for the L-STAR can be found below.

L-STAR optic attachments

Here are the scopes that can be equipped to the L-STAR:

• 1x Holo
• 1x HCOG “Classic”
• 2x HCOG “Bruiser”
• 1x-2x Variable Holo
• 3x HCOG “Ranger”
• 2x-4x Variable AOG

Fire in short bursts

Unlike the majority of guns in Apex Legends, the L-STAR allows you to keep firing at your target as long as you keep under the overheat threshold. This means you can maintain pressure if you simply fire in short bursts and have the necessary ammo. 

This can be rather difficult to do, especially when you get caught in the heat of the moment. Many L-STAR users simply hold down the trigger when fighting, but you’ll want to break this habit if you wish to avoid being stuck in a lengthy cooldown animation.

Lead your shots

Get used to leading your shots when engaging any distant enemies.

Although the VFX scale of the L-STAR projectiles was reduced by half in the Season 10 update, they’re still incredibly slow when fired at range. This can make landing any shots incredibly difficult outside of close-quarter firefights. As a result, you’ll either want to switch to a different weapon entirely or lead your shots. 

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When using the L-STAR at mid-range distances, try to predict where your target will be and shoot just ahead of them. This can be pretty tricky on more mobile Legends like Wraith and Octane, but a few well-placed shots will quickly stop them dead in their tracks. 

Pair the L-STAR with a ranged weapon

It’s often best to save your ammo for close-quarters firefights.

To compensate for the L-STAR’s high recoil and slow projectile speed, it’s often best to simply pair it with a long-range weapon. This will instantly alleviate any frustrations that come from trying to hit any targets at mid to long-range distances. 

The L-STAR has one of the slowest ranged projectile speeds in the game, so you’ll often find yourself outclassed in situations where you need a little extra precision. Having a gun that you can quickly switch to during mid to long-range firefights will certainly cover up the L-STAR’s main weakness. 

Master the L-STAR’s recoil pattern

The L-STAR’s recoil is still a little tricky, but it is fairly manageable.

One of the main reasons a lot of players dislike the L-STAR is its unwieldy recoil. However, Respawn alleviated this issue by giving it a new recoil pattern that has lowered the sporadic nature of its kick. 

Not only that, with the addition of barrel attachments for the weapon in Season 10, it should be significantly easier to master its recoil pattern.

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However, to avoid any frustrating deaths and to increase your overall accuracy, you’ll want to head into the practice range and unload your entire clip into the nearest target. The LMG will start to move to the left of the screen, then climb vertically.

As soon as the L-STAR begins to kick upwards, simply pull down on your mouse/analog stick to keep your shots on target. However, the recoil is very manageable and requires next to no recoil control when fired from the hip in close-quarter fights.

So there you have it, five tips to help you master the L-STAR LMG. If you found this guide helpful, then be sure to follow @alphaINTEL for all the latest Apex Legends news.