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In The Outrageous Okana, it is described that lasers are ineffective against the Enterprise:

WORF: Still no response. Captain, they are now locking lasers on us.
RIKER: Lasers?
WORF: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Lasers can't even penetrate our navigation shields. Don't they know that?

Does this apply to lasers as a type of weapon in general regardless of the strength of the laser? In other words, do the navigation shields merely deflect photons simply due to its existence when it is operating, or do the shield generators have to work harder to deflect lasers of greater power (implying that a sufficiently-powerful laser could penetrate the shields as the shield generators are limited)?

I would like answers based on canon sources, such as the Star Trek Technical Manual. If such information does not exist and thus could not be answered without giving subjective opinions, an answer saying that it's unknown or not stated would suffice as well.

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  • You could improve this question by editing it to include the name of the episode that quote is from: memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Outrageous_Okona_(episode)
    – LogicDictates
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 0:40
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    @LogicDictates Thanks! I saw the text in a comment, but it didn't mention the episode. I'll add that now.
    – forest
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 0:40
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    As much as i love the tech manual- the section on how shields work is highly dubious. I suspect the only answer for you would be from various stellar phenomena like being in a sun or near a pulsar and inferring based on the damage they do what sort of laser power you'd need to do the same damage. Phasers and other technobabble you can assume mess with shields more than real things.
    – lucasbachmann
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 5:34
  • @lucasbachmann even then, being very close to or in a star has major plasma and magnetic hazards. The actual light rarely seems to have any baring.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 13:17
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    @SovereignInquiry Presumably it's composed of a coherent beam of polarized light with an extremely narrow spectrum, unless the word laser means something different in the 24th century. Without any sources saying otherwise, it should be safe to assume that's what they're referring to.
    – forest
    Commented Jan 24, 2023 at 3:10

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