See, the thing is...

You have to lead your shots at moving targets, slightly.

If that's too hard (I mean it's really not easy and you're lucky if you hit something) Just jump straight above your enemies and splash them, then finish them off with the magsec or ion pistol.

Aim for the feet. If you hit them: instant kill - if you don't: 3-400 splash damage
Obviously you need to be prepared to switch to your sidearm to follow up on the splash damage. A Magsec or SMG are useful to deal with the remaining armor. Which one to go for depends on what range you're comfortable with. If you go with the SMG I suggest bringing lots of dampeners.

Other than that, plan on having the high ground to make your shots easier. This means that you'll take different routes than what you're used to when navigating the map.

And finally, you're a scout. You shouldn't even be within line of sight by the time the plasma blop hits or doesn't hit the target. Then you can reload in peace and strike again when the next opportunity arises. An active scanner can help you identify good opportunities. Remote explosives in the other equipment slot can help secure your retreat if you're spotted and enemies come looking for you (you're supposed to have the high ground - you'll know exactly which way the enemies have to take to reach your position).

Equip a core locus grenade, cook it until the fuse runs out, leave match, log out, and cue yourself for biomass for running around trying to further damage this game's gungame by playing the new fotm broken fits.

git gud scrub

The Plasma cannon is one of them arm cannons that trail and error is a common place, its all really on how far your shoot has to go to hit your mark, if you jump up and they are right in front of you as the cross hairs on it is a dang "T" go for about mid of the line of the "T" and with visual prediction, mean guess where the red berry is going to be once it takes a sec to get your shoot their to that location. I've found it helps to have a Megsec on the ready just in case the shoot misses, so you hit the ground next to them and all their shields are gone pop them with the megsec! As for long shoots aiming at the bottom of the "T" is needed get your cross hairs about a half an inch below the "T" but like I side its all in how far away you are. First shoot should be the distance indicator and adjust from there. Hope this helps happy hunting!

I'll go and ask Ceej tonight. I haven't seen someone so strongly in tune with the Godplasma since Commander Marquess and Haly Tari Tari.

He might even be the Plasmamessaih CCP promised us who would follow in Kubo's foot steps and forgive us our non-plasma cannoning sins.

I fire into crowded rooms.

Works like a charm.

Cocky heavies are relatively easy to kill.

I should know. I am one.

None (NONE) of this happens though without basic, fundamental aimtraining. Take it slow, go step by step and don't be so overzealous that you overextend. All combat in DUST is risk vs reward and while the Plasma Cannon will reward you greatly and throughly it does so by asking greater risk than most any other weapon available. Like all risk though, with proper mitigation of the variables involved you will decrease the risk and increase your reward potential. Ignore the urge to artificially compensate . Leave the protocannon at home and quit myo-fibbing your kills, you fib yourself and yourself alone, everyone knows that's trash. My go-to pub fit is literally a dragonfly frame ,std Cal asslt, with a toxin SMG and std PLC. Learn to thrive like that and you'll have few issues being a dominating force FW/PC-side.

#1 is this:



Take the myofibs OFF. You'll not aimtrain the PLC wearing survival training wheels. Someday CCP will be able to adjust the flighttime velocity of myofibs so that terrain traversal jumping doesn't interrupt hit detection but that's basically all that you're gaining by using them. And it's only effective partially, since good aim will slap your predictable-flying-arc-ass right out of the sky or wherever you land. All that area-denial weaponry spam w/myos you see is poor aim compensated for by increased movement. Which is exactly why you especially don't want to aimtrain PLC with them- You're adding variables (your constant movement arc up and down as well as to the side) to the existing variables (target movement and PLC round movement). GG, get rid of the myojump as combat "technique". This cannot be emphasized enough.

That being said, #2 on is as follows-

- Find fixed targets on the maps and train your aim with those. Start big and then get smaller. For example, start at a comfortable distance from a null cannon and start lining up shots on the protective cover panels. No, I am not saying to sit in the middle of a battlezone and shoot a wall. Yes, I am saying to be a useless mothertrucker on the team way back in your spawnzone shooting a wall. Anybody that sees you that knows will know whats up and anybody who asks probably needs to do the same since they can't tell by watching. So start big and close and then progressvely get smaller and farther adding in movement- w/e strafing you do, (non-myo) jumps, 180 turnarounds etc. If this sounds like work it's because it is. This is training no matter what the skills sheet says when you spend SP. This is training. As you get a better feel for the spoollingtime and arc you'll be able to reliably plant rounds where they need to go, where you want them to go.

-Now, the "when" of things. Do. Not. Skill proficiency for PLC in steps. Your goals are best served by going prof0 to prof5 in 1 jump. This because for PLC not only do you get a damage boost from 0-5 but there's a spoolingtime acceleration also. That's your timing, from when you pull the trigger to when that fat glob actually leaves the cannon. All that aimtraining and reflex conditioning (since what we're really doing here) gets bent when you change the spooling time. If you're prof 3 and train and acclimate and then go prof 5 you'll be relearning almost everything you just conditioned. Go to 5, go directly to 5, collect your bonus and go go go.

So for the static target aim training I personally found the large knuckle joint-hinges on blaster turrets and the crane knuckle suspended off the tabletop on the map that has the table over the road to be best. Move around, line it up and let er rip. Missed shots are adjusted. Lather, rinse, repeat.

-When it comes to moving targets I had an admittedly easier time training PLC when I did than you will now, since I started it in 1.2ish after the MassDriver nerfing that occurred back then and was ready to go during MurderTaxi514. LAVs trying to run people over were everywhere and there's few things like stopping a speeding LAV heading towards you in a fiery exclamation of GBFW. Anyways, moving targets are freakin' easy once you're solid on the rhythm of the PLC and the arc. You have it easier than I did arc-wise since it's been flattened for you relative to how it used to be.

What I suggest doing is follow the advice of several of the people^ and
A) Have a good, reliable sidearm. Sidearm is very important not just for finishing off splash-damaged opponents but as your primary weapon as you travel the field from point A to B. PLC while you're learning is not going to cut it, I'm an SMG guy myself but w/e works for you is what you want to use, Pistol, Bolt Pistol, MagSec, w/e. You need to protect yourself and tbh when people see you running around carrying a PLC they know you're very likely an easy target and will chase you harder than they would otherwise. Also, responding to them with a sidearm can make them overly aggressive in pursuing you which is where you can bait them and then, POP! Suprise, *****. Plasma Cannon. Which brings us to
B) Learn to recognize the Time and Place for you to use the PLC relative to your skill with it. At first crowded rooms are great for splattering the killfeed. Choked hallways too. Control panels you can get a LoS on from a distance are also very good. I can not count how many of the PC superstars from my PC days I greased from way far away as they tried to throw a speedhack down on a contested point. Multi-kills too. And often the heavy that was guarding them (prof5, proto cannon, wb and a PC fit often=3k+ damage. Per round). Vehicles, like those murdertaxis or low-hovering Dropships and even stacked and modules on Tanks are little to no problem in the right circumstances. Pick your Vic. And pick them carefully not randomly. Let volunteers come to you randomly. XD

If you actually want to get good with the PLC, leave the myofibs at home.

Use a commando or a scout.

Embrace your destiny.

I've run the KLA cannon in pubs for a while as part of my AV fits (Adv Amarr Logi or MinMando) for a little extra damage to the vehicles.

After prof5 the std cannon packs enough punch to wipe most suits suits in one, any suit in 2 and scare damn near all of them.

Fitting is less on the std and it's cheaper so it facilitates that lessening of risk, economics-wise. If you're having cpu issues, mod the suit. You should be putting SP into all your coreskills to max first, btw, if no one's told you that yet. All those skills that provide passive bonuses (++ù to cpu, ++ù to pg, ++ù to armor/shields/hacking/profile etc) apply to all your frames all the time so are overall the first, best, sp investments you can make. Without those maxed you'll have Proto but won't really be Proto. Figure what's best for you, of course, but those core skills are the best value bang-for-the-investment on the tree.

You can train in PCs, no-shows while a chore can be great oppotunities to do quiet aimtraining or even just map explores if you aren't familiar with layouts. Actual, active PCs are less training opportunities (repeat motions to develop reflex) and more live-classroom (what things are actually like when the **** hits the fan) exercises. Its less about training, at least in my experience, and the proverbial "Do, or Do Not".

Yes, as an omni-logi of the old guard, I have been responsible for running scans for my team. Both active (scanner scans) and passive (precision mod) based.

Keep on like this and you'll be fine. Some things don't change but for the most part today's meta is tommorrow's memory.

Good Luck, Have Fun and Be Profitable!

Hmm.... Kinda inspires me to pick up the plc for normal use again... Out of all the weapons I have skilled into the PLC took the most real life skill points.

Imma use it. Thanks @thread

I use the Gallente Commando with my plasma cannon because I use it more so for AV than anti infantry; with two complex damage mods and Gallente plasma bonus WITH the reload bonus....You're tearing through any Tank and vaporizing shield vehicles.

There's a reticle when Aiming the plasma cannon. If something is 40 meters out when you look at it, match the bottom of the vertical line where the middle dot would be when you aim it up. Now you have accommodated for 40 meters. If it's another 80 meters you do the same exact thing but twice and so on.

This post should be re-titled:

"Splashmoney 101"

or

"Screw bullets, go for splash - no skills required"

If we ever get 1.3, then all these scrubs will quit because they would have to develop real skills....

Careful with that, you'll earn RandomH8 level V faster using the signature that accompanied perhaps hundreds of Corp App denial letters.