Plasma Pistol

The Plasma Pistol is the weakest of the alien plasma weapons, and also the least accurate. An aimed shot with this weapon is in fact less accurate than a snapshot with the Plasma Rifle. It does have some minor advantages: Its autoshot is the fastest of the plasma weapons, and it can be used one-handed with no loss of accuracy. It is also small enough to fit in a belt, which makes it a respectable secondary weapon for a soldier armed with a Rocket Launcher.

It does not take very long for the aliens to stop using this weapon. They have good reasons to abandon it: It is largely useless against the second generations of X-COM armour suits and HWPs. Unfortunately, this means X-COM does not have a reliable supply of clips for the weapon, so they must be manufactured if they are needed, and this requires Elerium.

Stats

Plasma Pistol:

Size: 2 high x 1 wide Weight: 3 TUs: Auto: 30% (Accuracy 50%) Snap: 30% (Accuracy 65%) Aimed: 60% (Accuracy 85%) Manufacturing: $56,000 for parts, 600 Engineer Hours, 1 Alien Alloy Sell Price: $84,000

Plasma Pistol Clip:

Power: 52 Plasma Ammo: 26 Size: 1 high x 1 wide Weight: 3 Manufacturing: $2,000 for parts, 60 Engineer Hours, 1 Elerium Sell Price: $4,440

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: 3 Bursts (9 Shots), 10% Remaining TUs

Tips

• This is the lightest sidearm, at only 6 weight units.
• This is the slowest of the sidearms, but also the most powerful, dealing out twice as much damage as the regulation Pistol, and is between the Laser Pistol and Laser Rifle in damage, meaning that only a Sectopod can really withstand prolonged fire from it.
• The TUs needed for a Snapshot and the time needed for an Autofire burst are the same; this means that the only reasons to NOT spray the enemy with autofire is accuracy and ammo concerns. And the Plasma Pistol sports an impressively large clip.
• For the most bang for your buck per unit of Elerium used in ammo manufacture, look no further.
• This weapon will often disappear by April; if you haven't captured one by then, you won't ever get the chance.
• Recommended for heavy weapons troopers or scouts. Pairs well with the Laser Pistol; each weapon builds on the weaknesses of the other.