diff --git a/controllers/LaserController.gd b/controllers/LaserController.gd
index f017811..caf9fb3 100644
--- a/controllers/LaserController.gd
+++ b/controllers/LaserController.gd
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ const BEAM_EFFECT = preload("res://vfx/LaserBeamEffect.gd")
 const WEAPON_COMPONENT = preload("res://vessels/VesselWeaponComponent.gd")
 const BEAM_COLOR := BEAM_EFFECT.BEAM_COLOR
 const TARGET_COLOR := Color(0.6, 0.95, 1.0)
+# #203's range mark and the assist's target ring, in screen pixels.
+const END_TICK_PIXELS: float = 17.0
+const TARGET_RING_PIXELS: float = 15.0
 const BEAM_HALF_WIDTH := BEAM_EFFECT.BEAM_HALF_WIDTH
 const FLASH_DURATION := BEAM_EFFECT.FLASH_DURATION
 const ENERGY_PER_SHOT: int = VesselLaserComponent.ENERGY_PER_SHOT
@@ -114,8 +117,48 @@ func beam_tip(beam: Node2D) -> Vector2:
 	return beam.tip()
 
 
+# #203: the aim view frames the beam's WHOLE reach, not the point the aim
+# happens to sit on. The assist can settle that point on an enemy a few
+# hundred units away (#201), and fitting the camera to it would say the shot
+# stops there. Fitting the far end instead is also what makes the range
+# visible at all: the beam is 2900 units long and the inherited floor on the
+# zoom - sized for the gas bomb's 950 - left three quarters of it off screen.
+func _update_aim_zoom(origin: Vector2, target: Vector2) -> void:
+	super(origin, origin + _aim_heading(origin, target) * _aim_max_range())
+
+
+func _aim_heading(origin: Vector2, target: Vector2) -> Vector2:
+	var direction: Vector2 = target - origin
+	return direction.normalized() if direction.length() > 0.001 else Vector2.UP
+
+
 func _draw() -> void:
 	# Only the aim guide. Each beam draws itself, in its own node.
-	if aiming:
-		NeonDraw.draw_glowing_line(self, _aim_origin(), aim_target,
-			TARGET_COLOR, 0.7, 0.6)
+	if not aiming:
+		return
+	var origin: Vector2 = _aim_origin()
+	var reach: float = _aim_max_range()
+	var far_end: Vector2 = origin + _aim_heading(origin, aim_target) * reach
+	# Drawn to the far end rather than to aim_target, for the same reason the
+	# camera frames it: this is the line the beam will occupy (#203).
+	NeonDraw.draw_glowing_line(self, origin, far_end, TARGET_COLOR, 0.7, 0.6)
+	# A cross-tick where it stops, so the reach is a mark on the screen rather
+	# than a line that merely runs out. Sized in SCREEN pixels: framing 2900
+	# units puts the camera far enough out that a mark measured in world units
+	# would be a few pixels of nothing at the moment it matters most.
+	var across: Vector2 = far_end.direction_to(origin).orthogonal() \
+		* _screen_units(END_TICK_PIXELS)
+	NeonDraw.draw_glowing_line(self, far_end - across, far_end + across,
+		TARGET_COLOR, 0.7, 0.5)
+	# What the assist picked, when that is nearer than the far end. The line
+	# still runs past it - everything behind it on the same line is hit too.
+	if origin.distance_to(aim_target) < reach - 1.0:
+		NeonDraw.draw_glowing_circle(self, aim_target,
+			maxf(BEAM_HALF_WIDTH, _screen_units(TARGET_RING_PIXELS)),
+			TARGET_COLOR, 0.7)
+
+
+# World units that cover a given number of screen pixels at the camera's
+# current zoom.
+func _screen_units(pixels: float) -> float:
+	return pixels / maxf(camera.zoom.x, 0.001)
diff --git a/tests/_laser_aim_preview.gd b/tests/_laser_aim_preview.gd
index b15ef31..d6d50f1 100644
--- a/tests/_laser_aim_preview.gd
+++ b/tests/_laser_aim_preview.gd
@@ -12,6 +12,11 @@ func _ready() -> void:
 	GameState.extractors.clear()
 	GameState.transporters.clear()
 	GameState.vessel_levels["unlock_laser"] = 1
+	GameState.intro_active = false
+	# A shot the fleet cannot pay for is refused before aiming starts, so
+	# without this the preview drew no guide at all - the state it exists
+	# to show. Deposited before Main is built, like test_laser_vessel.gd.
+	GameState.deposit_fleet_resource(GameState.RESOURCE_ENERGY, 40)
 	var main: Node = load("res://world/Main.tscn").instantiate()
 	add_child(main)
 	main.get_node("BackgroundLayer").visible = false
@@ -21,14 +26,17 @@ func _ready() -> void:
 	main.get_node("EnemySpawner").set_process(false)
 	main.get_node("AsteroidField").set_process(false)
 	var fleet: Node = main.get_node("Fleet")
-	fleet.spawn_ships(4, Vector2.ZERO, PackedStringArray([
-		GameState.VESSEL_INTERCEPTOR, GameState.VESSEL_SHIELD,
-		GameState.VESSEL_LASER, GameState.VESSEL_LASER]))
+	# Three, not four: the starting fleet holds three hulls until the skill
+	# tree widens it, and a fourth entry was silently dropped - which took the
+	# ready laser with it and left this preview with nothing to aim.
+	fleet.spawn_ships(3, Vector2.ZERO, PackedStringArray([
+		GameState.VESSEL_SHIELD, GameState.VESSEL_LASER,
+		GameState.VESSEL_LASER]))
 	var skill: Node = main.get_node("LaserController")
 	skill._process(0.0)
 	# Show both per-ship states in one frame: one laser ship rearming, the
 	# other ready and supplying the shot.
-	var rearming: Node = fleet.ships[2].get_component("laser")
+	var rearming: Node = fleet.ships[1].get_component("laser")
 	rearming.consume_shot()
 	rearming.tick(rearming.cooldown_duration * 0.5)
 	main.get_node("Camera2D").zoom = Vector2(1.8, 1.8)
diff --git a/tests/test_laser_vessel.gd b/tests/test_laser_vessel.gd
index 5dd6239..0538403 100644
--- a/tests/test_laser_vessel.gd
+++ b/tests/test_laser_vessel.gd
@@ -124,6 +124,17 @@ func _process(delta: float) -> bool:
 				return _fail_now("aiming did not zoom out")
 			print("aiming zoomed the camera out")
 
+			# #203: far enough out to show the WHOLE beam. The drag above is
+			# horizontal, so the screen's narrow half is the binding one.
+			var half_screen: Vector2 = skill.get_viewport_rect().size * 0.5 \
+				- Vector2(54.0, 54.0)
+			var framed: float = (2900.0 + BEAM_HALF_WIDTH) \
+				* main.get_node("Camera2D").zoom.x
+			if framed > half_screen.x + 1.0:
+				return _fail_now("aiming framed %.0fpx of beam on %.0fpx of screen" \
+					% [framed, half_screen.x])
+			print("aiming framed the beam's full range")
+
 			# --- B. targets: two on the line, one off it, one past range ---
 			for offset in [Vector2(200.0, 0.0), Vector2(500.0, 0.0)]:
 				var enemy: Node = load("res://enemies/Enemy.tscn").instantiate()
diff --git a/world/Main.tscn b/world/Main.tscn
index 9f97912..790dbb2 100644
--- a/world/Main.tscn
+++ b/world/Main.tscn
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ script = ExtResource("mouse_ctrl")
 
 [node name="LaserController" type="Node2D" parent="."]
 script = ExtResource("30")
+minimum_zoom = 0.1
 
 [node name="DashController" type="Node2D" parent="."]
 script = ExtResource("dash_ctrl")