Hi fellow mercs!

Just wanted to know if you had some general tips for Plasma Cannons? We all know they're underused, but having put some some SP into the basic version, just wanted to see if anyone else uses them and what their experiences were.

1. Is it worth taking Plasma Cannon Operation past level 1? Is the reduction in charge time really noticeable?
2. Compared to Basic, how much better is the Advanced and Prototype version?
3. How much effect does the charge time reduction have on your gameplay? Lead time etc.?
4. Speaking of lead time, what range does the shot start dropping off?

If you can think of more, please feel free to share o/

Wow, thanks for the comprehensive answer, Rogatien Merc.

So I guess it's the basic version all the way then. Looking at it looks like you definitely need a sidearm? Any good combinations e.g. flaylock + plasma? SMG + plasma?

Question about the drop-off, does it work similar to the mass driver? I noticed that the speed of the fireball is actually lower than the mass driver's 'grenades' and starts dropping off a lot sooner. Also, the scope/HUD looks iffy.

Make sure to see if your ammo dropped by 1 after a shot (mostly your first shot), you might shoot a few times untill it does (these shots will not do damage).

Yeah the falloff you just have to play with. I like SMG... never got into flaylocks.

Yep, that's happened to me a few times since I started using them. Line up a perfect shot on an incoming heavy, take the shot and nothing happens...


So assuming I shoot, on level ground, how far does the shot travel before hitting the ground? Sorry for all the questions, just horrible with distances and testing etc.

It has something crazy like a 200m+ range if you lob it perfectly I think, according to the weapons spreadsheet linked in one of these threads. How far it will travel until it hits the ground if fired perfectly level? No idea and don't really care. Like I said, you just need to learn the sight picture at different ranges that you use the weapon; you won't be shooting it perfectly level because it will always be too low in that case beyond like 5-10m.

BUT, again, you shouldn't be trying to use it out really far unless you're trying to hit a yellow turret or something for some reason and can't get closer. The bolt travels very very slowly which gives any target ample time to react and move. If you get really good I suppose you could learn some Kentucky Windage and adjust for movement speed of a tank and hit him from 75-100m out with a lucky shot assuming his movement is constant, but that's going to be a matter of learning and experience, not just looking at numbers :-)

It's meant for use within I'd say 5-10m (primary) and 10-25m (secondary) where you can be sure you're going to melt the guy. But again, I've only played around with it for a few weeks, I'm not one of those few guys who went proto in the thing and uses it all the time.

If you really want to know the falloff at different ranges, spawn into a skirmish match at the ground point and use the friendly supply depot as your test target. Point at it and it will tell you the range, back off to 10m and fire and see if you can hit it. Back off to 25m ... to 50m ... to 75m ... etc. And remember what elevation you have to get.

NOW in the real world remember to factor in movement of target, elevation variation, and your own movement and you'll be fine :-)

There's a reason not many people use it. It's hard to use beyond point-blank :-)

I've been considering grabbing a dry erase marker and marking my screen with range increments (up to 100 meters) + travel time. The dadgum sight in the thing is only useful for cqc.

I've only fired a militia forge gun, and there is no militia plasma, but I'm curious, based just on the descriptions here:
Whats the diff between forge gun and plasma cannon?

Plasma Cannon: Smaller radius/splash damage, drop off as soon as projectile leaves the cannon, have to reload after every shot, smaller ammo pool, projectile speed is slower, can be used by all suits, fires when charged and can't hold charge, short charge time.

Sooo... basically, sounds like a regular grenade with auto-cooking. or rather, explode-on-impact set, to put it more simply.
Contact grenade?

....
Except not.
Comparing numbers on wiki, the blast radius and blast damage is significantly smaller. About half of a grenade, in both cases.

Direct hits are the super win, though.. ! 1000 damage, wheee!
Seems like a heavy could stand up to a grenade but not a direct hit from one of these.
If I wasnt saving my meager SP for other things, I'd definitely go for one of these, methinks :)

Im using smg/plasma cannon combo.

Really happy for the reload speed skill buff in 1.4. Plasma cannon will have now have two cheaper skills to increase the dps (ROF increase and proficiency).

All I can tell you is, practice makes perfect. You can practice with the STD variant, if you get good with it, you can spec further into the weapon.

Even though I have proto plasma, I mostly run BPO suit with STD plasma in pub matches, no big difference in dmg anyway.

I just made a new char drop a bunch of SP into weapons so I could try plasma cannon out.

People keep saying "drop-off", but I did an experiement with range, while standing next to a reloader drop.

I targetted nearby objects, getting farther and further away.
Seems like the "splat" hit right over the crosshairs, until my full minmap radar range I think. So.. 50m?
That's a lot longer than the 10meters someone claimed?


Mind you, I guess if it's real picky about "direct hit" stuff, maybe there is actually a dropoff, but I just dont notice because the splat is so big? :)

Huh. well that's interesting.
Maybe i'm hallucinating or something, but.. the animation is done kinda inconsiderately.

There's a big "puff" of smoke, that makes it look like it's on target... but then there's an explosion when it actualy hits... and THAT, drops. yeah.

So at 100m out, seems like its best to aim at the top, of the little hanging down crosshair thingie?

PS: I like cannons!
Just wish it made sense and did more damage.

Seems like stuff that goes perfectly straight (ie: forge gun) should have a damage penalty for the "perfectly straight" feature.

Not to mention the range.


well, I suppose FG also has the "only heavies" limitation. but still. compare to swarm launcher. and THAT, has autolock-on and in-flight adjustments.
plasma cannon is harder to get, harder to fire.... it should be un-nerfed, IMO.

Simple change of making it fly straight a la forge gun would make this a scary good weapon.

Simple change of making it fly straight a la forge gun would make this a scary good weapon.

But that doesnt make sense. Going by the visual effects, "forge gun" is a pure energy weapon, so has very little mass, therefore minimal drop. Whereas plasma gun looks to be a projectile, therefore should have drop.

Ironicaly, if you ignore visuals, and look at the NAMES.. they're exactly backwards!!

Really, "forge gun", should be projectile, and have drop. Whereas "plasma gun", by definition of the word "plasma", should be pure energy(edit: well, mostly energy), and therefore no drop!!

If you changed that, and reveresd the visuals, but kept the damage types the same.. I think forge gun and plasma gun would finally make sense.

It makes extra sense when you consider that "something(ie: ammo) that is big and heavy", should Actually Need a Heavy Suit. Whereas something that is light, and has no dropoff, should not !!!