These effects were created for the character abilities in Outriders.
Stuff:
List
This Jira ticket just appeared:
https://can-jira-qa.square-enix-europe.com/browse/MAD2-20492
I think there is not much that can be optimised on Phantom Stabbers that won't impact the look.
It has 6 beams which are all necessary:
1: The shard beam has to be separate because it has different UVs and needs different Color Over Life (which is used as dynamic parameters since beams don't support it)
2&3: Electricity needs 2 beams since one is as a material instance with different WPO settings (Noise module breaks curved beams that are linked so WPO is the only way to avoid flatness)
4: Smoke has to be seperate from electricity because smoke has blendmode translucent and electricity has blendmode additive
5&6: The trail / lingering smoke needs 2 beams for the same reason as the electricity and needs to be seperate because it is the only beam that can (and should) use the noise module
Stuff I could still do:
1. Remove one of the light emitters (The light spawns on the character when the lightning flows around him) (Will impact the look a bit)
2. Remove the smoke beam (beam 4) since it is less important than the other ones, it just adds some randomness. (Will impact the look a bit)
I think the best way to optimise is to not spawn 3 differnet particle systems but instead have one parameterised.
The only difference is the bone/socket location (Hand_R, Hand_L, spine_03)
And the source and target tangent (0,40,10 - 0,-40,-10) and (0,-40,10 - 0,40,-10)
The tangents can be changed in blueprint and for the bone location I don't see a parameter option but this should also be able to be changed from blueprint.
Older videos showcasing different parameters can be found here: