I'd rather put prof. 5 into a Scrambler Pistol than Plasma Rifle. Only one of these take skill to use.

You could get a weapon to operation 5 with that amount of SP right?

Actually... they have the ability to hit hard from a bit longer range than the standard variant. Since 1.5 (was it? Or was it 1.4?) the tactical variants became viable, though they will never be as popular as they were once. The only Plasma Rifle acknowledgable for any "skill" to use is the Breach. You gun me down with that thing while I use the standard, then you deserved it. I clearly ****** up somewhere along the line.

"But, but, but... Standard has more DPS!" DPS is nothing if you don't have the range to hit with, nor if you can't connect. What I will give you, however, is the notion that they both take more ability than the standard. Standard is braindead ability. It does suck what's going to happen to them all though...

I use semi-automatic and burst fire weapons in every FPS I play. They are my preference over fully automatic ones, as I aim for the head. The rule of thumb is to hit the weak point. The sheer problem with the standard Plasma Rifle is that its raw damage is good up to, what, 80m? And that's not a problem to you? A Gallentean weapon... Yes, a blaster... Having more consistent ranged damage than the Amarrian Laser Rifle? If you really believe the other variants of Plasma Rifle (besides Breach... thing's a bit ass if you ask me) have low TTK... you need to aim better.

Not to sound like an ass, but I don't use AA. Aim for the head. Blow their brains out. You can three to five burst at the worst for most suits.

Ha. This guy.

Added note: Try using the Scrambler Pistol by itself. I recommend the Assault. You'll find it isn't as easy as any Plasma Rifle.

YAAAAAAAAY AR514!!!!! is that what you really want? is that and swarms the only thing you care for? id hold the SP because if this is really turning to AR514, they are going to make a lot of different varients of it. like in COD. and I don't like COD

snipers and massholes. all of the easy-mode picks. really dude?

Atiim, don't even bother listening to those people screaming "AR 514" just because you use the LOLburst (the LOL is there because the gun is way underperforming).

You're not using the weapon they use, so they're always going to complain. Just get over those comments, don't let them leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Now, to answer your question...

1. Are you shield or armor tanking? If you're armor tanking, you probably have at least one damage mod, so having maxed out proficiency is not that important in this case.
If you're shield tanking, you probably don't use damage mods. In this case, proficiency really comes in handy, since high damage is possibly the most important factor for tactical weapons, so even that 3% bonus might make the difference...

2. I stopped putting SP into AR because the Rail Rifle and the Scrambler Rifle (30m range buff coming soon) are going to kick our semiautomatic AR's in the butt. I'm going to spec into one of those weapons in 1.7 and you may want to do the same. I just wanted to remind you that this is going to happen.
Also, the standard AR's range is about to be buffed, leaving few reasons to use the burst or the tac. If you specced into AR just for those variants, like I did, consider moving to different weapons. The sad part is that I only have 9 millions SP and I just managed to get proficiency Lv3 for my Tac... so many wasted SP. And wasted time.

If you do i'll add you to my kill then troll list

Atiim: With proficiency 3 you already have 9% + damage (almost a cx Damage mod).
I say DONT spend the SP yet, WAIT for the changes to come. 3% more damage isnt worth the possible loss of 500k+ SP.
Unless of course, you plan on keep using the regular AR variants... :3