This definitely defies the games logic of Plasma = Good Vs Shields while Kinetic = Good Vs Unshielded. The Sidekick in general defies all logic, why is a pistol the most powerful UNSC kinetic weapon besides the S7 and the Bulldog? I do think the PP’s primary fire could be slightly buffed so it isn’t entirely useless.
I don’t think it needs area of effect damage, this is what the Ravager is for. The tracking is accurate but it’s not like enemies can’t escape it, and this is by design. The PP + Sidekick can kill in 0.33s and the PP + BR can kill in 0.53s. That is literally power weapon kill times, this is why the tracking is not perfect.
OP is 100% right. In my experience with Infinite, the only reliable utility of the Plasma Pistol is a point blank overcharge blast followed up by either a quick melee or headshot. The tracking on the overcharge blast is too weak for even most midrange engagements assuming your opponent is strafing at all, and the removal of EMP and the fact that it takes more regular shots to sap shields with a Plasma Pistol than it does with basically any kinetic weapon in the game make this iteration of the PP the most worthless in the history of the series.
If it even just had EMP, it’d be tons more useful and on par with a lot of the prior Plasma Pistols. But since 343i needed to give Shock weapons a reason to exist, this Plasma Pistol is just a joke.
Because halo 2 and 3 gained millions of users by doing so?
Seems like the obvious answer.
The emp was in and of itself a reonvention of the plasma pistol.
EMP was added to the Plasma Pistol to make it a more viable utility weapon. They reduced its homing from Halo 2 and basically just made it a support shield dropper and vehicle control weapon in Halo 3. It continued to stay that way until Halo 5 where they gave it a damage buff to make it a viable weapon on its own.
Now that the EMP has been stripped away we are left with a Plasma Pistol that does not do enough damage on its own in a regular single fire shot and is no longer strong enough on a charge shot to remove an overshield. This is no longer a viable weapon at all. It was already struggling in season 1 and now it is worthless unless you’re just fighting somebody that doesn’t have overshields at close range. Basically we now have one scenario where the gun is actually useful… that sure is some utility and/or viability we’ve got there.
Adding this in just as a note to 343i. It’s funny how I have to constantly go back and edit my posts to remove unnecessary censoring when I’ve been talking about the plasma pistol. Because we frequently use “strip”, but certain versions are censored.
Strip
Stripped
Stripping
Strip"per" ← see that? Had to edit it.
I can say “The plasma pistol strips shields.” or “It’s good for stripping shields.” and “I stripped his shield with the plasma pistol.”, but I can’t say “The plasma pistol is a shield strip’per.” I have to edit it or use a different word. This has really annoyed me lately.
Here’s an idea. When it’s homing into your target, maybe it should also do minor damage to other enemies caught in its path (similar to the dynamo grenade). Then it could be used as a decent support weapon in crowded areas.
People say: “Well there’s the noob combo” but I don’t think a weapon should solely depend on the other weapon in your pocket to have some kind of use. The EMP at least fit that bill of having some kind of utility that didn’t rely on having a magic BR in your pocket. Now there’s no EMP and it doesn’t even fully strip off the buffed Overshield.
Yeah, guess I thought a joke between halos and wheels sounded humorous, but “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” would have expressed my sentiments better.
Indeed. I do appreciate new additions to the sandbox, but I have found no interest in many of the new weapons they added; I wouldn’t use them unless absolutely necessary. Dunno why; can’t put a finger on it.
At the very least, remove it’s headshot multiplier and make it’s primary fire strip shields in 4 shots total. For overcharge either increase it’s tracking slightly or give the overcharge AOE blast. ( Or they could think outside the box and give the overcharge blast a stun mechanic )
I think what @Yung_Mithos means is that the PP in some earlier Halos (Reach comes to mind for me) is that the charge shot had a noticeably larger hurtbox than the normal shots. Infinite’s PP doesn’t seem to have this or at least it seems much smaller then the visual effect would suggest. The visual effect when the charge shot impacts a surface makes a tiny explosion (walk up to a wall and shoot it and you’ll be hurt) and I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the PP to have this extra bit of usefulness.
I don’t disagree with this, but don’t think this is a good reason for the primary fire to by nigh useless. The PP has always been valued for the charge shot, and that’s fine. I wouldn’t change that for the world, but having the primary fire be a decent shield -Yoink!- in a pinch isn’t a bad thing. The charge shot usually is better when you pre-charge it behind cover, while the primary fire could be more of an “on-the-fly” shield -Yoink!- (like the Pulse Carbine, but shorter ranged, no tracking, and less damage per shot). I think it’s fine for a gun to have “mostly campaign” function, but if it can have that and still be viable in MP then we are in business. The Brute Spiker is the prime offender here.
