three shots per clip.
Reduce damage by 25% So every ball does around 600-700 damage.
increase projectile speed by 15%
Reduce CPU requirements, but implement PG to supplement it.

Well we need to think of other ways to fix a weapon other then just nerffing, or buffing the damage.

I tried the plasma cannon out extensively. I went to my alt with 3 million skill points and made the following fitting

Gallente Prototype Medium Basic Frame
STD Plasma Canon
STD Submachine gun
Militia locus grenades
Nanohives
3 Enhanced Shield Extenders
2 Enhanced Armor Plates
2 Enhanced Armor Repairers

I think the people claiming the plasma cannon is useless just haven't tried much. Once you learn the trajectory it is not too hard to land body shots, especially on heavies. It has a decent splash damage but it could use a buff. Mostly though it is good for weakening enemies and finishing them off with the SMG. While it's decently effective versus infantry, it's pretty useless against vehicles. I understand why CCP did this, they don't want it to rival the forge gun because what would be the point of going heavy then, right? Well the forge gun can do all this stuff from a safe distance with a fast moving projectile, sort of "sniping" vehicles. Plasma cannon is slow and has bad range so you have to get close. Forges also carry more ammo and has a larger clip. There are plenty reasons to use it over the plasma cannon if they made the plasma cannon similarly effective versus vehicles.


After more time playing, I say keep the charge up time, projectile speed, ammo, and damage the same. Increase splash damage radius with a decay the further out you are from impact (current model it has to land right at the enemy's feet pretty much to do any damage), and change the clip size from 1 to 2. Also switch the Plasma Cannon Ammo skill from +5% per level to +1 per level.

If the goal was to make this an AV weapon then they have done nothing to show it. Right now it's not viable for much, but it is much more viable as an anti-infantry weapon than an anti-vehicle weapon. Also I don't believe what I am suggesting would make it like a mortar at all, you still have to get close and risk a lot for what is an easily dodgeable missile.

It is not just close range. I've been getting some good mid-range shots off on this. Like the mass driver, you just have to learn the speed and trajectory and adapt. Funny enough it doesn't work good as a one-shot up close mass driver since it has the charge up time and people move all over the place when you get close, plus the splash damage would hurt you at that range. If you really wanted to use it like that a shotgun would do better.

Even with my suggestions I don't think it would be a very viable anti-personnel weapon, not as good as the Mass Driver for sure. It would just weaken the enemy and give you a good spot to finish them off with a sidearm. Plus giving it the 2 shots per clip would help versus vehicles as well, but still not as good as forges (or even swarms!). It would be an "ok anti-personnel" and "ok anti-armor" but not great at either.

Have you not tried it? You can really weaken enemies with the splash damage giving you a good head start when you switch to an SMG. I don't know, but I really like the idea of a weapon that isn't too great when by itself but offers a lot of versatility. I mean the STD does do 1000 damage, that can scare a tank off with a few shots if I run across one while at the same time provide something to aid my secondary weapon in infantry combat. If they forced it into one role it would lose what makes it special.

Plasma Cannon does more damage, has a chance to get a body hit instantly killing the enemy, and it explodes on contact so you don't need to waste your time timing. We clearly just have different playstyles, but it is much better than a simply a grenade.

*cough* AR *cough*

LOL