Riot Gun
The riot gun is lightweight short range electrical weapon.
History
The riot gun fills a unique niche. They spew out short range lightning that damages anything in their path on rather broad base. After initial testing on a high discharge electrical weapon it was very apparent that R&D of Dirge enterprises had hit on a real good weapon for pegging hard to hit targets in close.
Originally marketed as a mere lightning gun, the riot guns picked up their name when they became the go-to weapon for mech pilots who needed to knock down fast moving targets with little regard to precision, focusing more on area control, especially good at knocking down infantry formations. Gun was soon rebranded, going along with the prevailing winds, "If you got a riot on your hands, you get a riot gun for maximum suppression."
Use
The riot gun is a basic weapon: wear, arm, point, and fire. The range on the gun is short, 30 meters max. But it has a rather broad hit-area to make up for it, making it much easier to hit a target so long as its within those thirty meters.
Other Notes
It's low hitpoint cost and workable DPS make it one of the better laser-like weapons, despite the fact it's not a true laser. You just need to be within 30 meters. This is a great weapon to put on fast agile mechs, play the easy-to-hit aspect of this weapon to your advantage with high speed maneuvering while pecking away at heavier mech's armor. Don't be afraid to hit or run.
When faced with riot guns you need to get distance between you and the attacking mech. If you have the misfortune of being slower then your only recourse is to throw more abuse out. Autocannons and heavier weapons will do more damage per second so long as you can hit consistently, the problem is competing with the real good hit-rate of the riots.