Heavy Plasma

The larger cousin of the Plasma Rifle is a powerful squad support weapon which is nonetheless light enough to be usable by nearly any soldier. It is the most powerful weapon available to X-COM agents short of the Blaster Launcher, plus it has a fast rate of fire and high accuracy.

This weapon is capable of penetrating a wide variety of terrain features, including most inner UFO walls and doors (See Destroying Terrain for more info). This property makes it indispensable for certain UFO Assault tactics, while its clip size of 35 rounds is usually more than sufficient for the typical engagement.

Researching the Heavy Plasma and its clip allows you to begin the Plasma Beam and Hovertank/Plasma projects.

Pros: High stopping power. High penetration power. Light weight. Spare clips and almost fully loaded guns are plentiful by mid-game - Just pry them out of dead alien fingers. Its auto and snap fire modes are second only to the Plasma Rifle in accuracy. However, the Heavy Plasma has a higher accuracy in aimed fire.

Cons: Clips count towards 80-item limit. Doesn't have infinite ammo like the Laser Rifle, although 35 shots goes a long way. Clips can be hard to come by in the early part of the game, and require Elerium if manufactured.

Stats

Heavy Plasma:

Size: 3 high x 2 wide Weight: 8 TUs: Auto: 35% (Accuracy 50%) Snap: 30% (Accuracy 75%) Aimed: 60% (Accuracy 110%) Manufacturing: $122,000 for parts, 1,000 Engineer Hours, 1 Alien Alloy Sell Price: $171,600

Heavy Plasma Clip:

Power: 115 Plasma Ammo: 35 Size: 1 high x 1 wide Weight: 3 Manufacturing: $6,000 for parts, 80 Engineer Hours, 3 Elerium Sell Price: $9,590

Usage Notes

The following lists how many times a soldier can fire the gun by shot type continuously in any given round and the remaining percentage of any left over TUs that cannot be spent as a shot.

• Aimed: 1 Shot, 40% Remaining TUs
• Snap: 3 Shots, 10% Remaining TUs
• Auto: 2 Bursts (6 Shots), 30% Remaining TUs

Tips

• Do you desire to wield inhuman power against the invading aliens? This is the weapon for you. It's often able to drop a Muton in a single shot.
• This weapon also comes into its own destroying the internal bulkheads, doors, floors, and ceilings of UFOs. Want a door somewhere that there isn't one? Bring in a Heavy Plasma and make one.
• Weighs the same as a standard Rifle. Unless you're weighing them down with tons of gear, any soldier should be able to use this effectively.
• Sports the largest clip in the game after the Lasers, and totally outclasses them in terms of damage.
• After about June or July, the aliens will only use this weapon for the remainder of the game, meaning that ammo and guns are plentiful.
• Sells quite well on the market. You'll literally have PILES of them in storage, just waiting to be sold to the highest bidder.