Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

In 8E, Pulse Rifles are the same as always. But for the other choices, ,everything has changed for the humble Shas'la:

Pulse Blasters don't negate MEQ's armor anymore, they just push it down to 5+. And being S6 is no better than S5 against MEQ. So they are less than half as deadly against Marines as they used to be.
Pulse Carbines are now Assault 2: better than rifles at 15-18". And, Assault means they can advance and shoot - possibly with no penalties, with 3 marker hits.
Ethereals and Fireblades are nearly swapped:
Ethereal gives Reroll 1s to units that stand still, making the Ethereal a good choice for Pulse Rifle units.
Fireblade gives the old Ethereal ability: +1 shot at half range.

So now I'm thinking my Carbine squad piles out of their Devilfish together with a Fireblade. Carbines and Devilfish are good for 44 shots; Fireblade should Markerlight to make an average of 3 extra hits on those. 25 S5 hits means 17 wounds on nearly any infantry: 6 dead MEQ or twice that many Guard.

With the same plan (but 4" closer), the blasters get no real benefit from the Fireblade: its ability does not help Blasters. 20 shots plus 12 from the Fish. With the Fireblade's Markerlight, that's 12 Blaster hits and 7 S5 hits; then 8 Blaster wounds and 5 S5 wounds: MEQs save 3 of the Blaster wounds and 3 of the S5 wounds: 7 dead MEQ. Not really any better.

The turn after, the Carbines are running for the next objective and still shooting in a worthwhile manner. And the Fish is off doing something useful too. While the Blasters need to load back into the Devilfish if they want to manage another 5" drop.

So even in their best-case Blaster Drop, the Blasters suffer a lost turn afterwards, while the Carbines are still moving and fighting.

Are Carbines finally good?

Other infantry bits:

Photon Grenades just got really interesting: in overwatch they seem decent. What about on the attack? Photon grenades basically eliminate overwatch! Now, Kroot and Tau were never good in melee. But against really weak units, charging is a free move. Or would be if you didn't have to get overwatched. Now you don't.

Bonding Knife: Ignore 6s on Morale? OK! A small Fire Warrior team is Ld 7, so they need an 8+ to take morale losses. But rolls of 6 don't count: so only losing 3 or 4 tau at once puts you at risk for morale. Useful for Pulse Rifle + Turret teams that risk making lots of morale rolls in a long-range battle of attrition.

Pulse Pistol: A silly toy for 0 points. Not sure when you would ever not fall back from melee.

Markerlight: Nearly free, and doesn't require a 10 pt sergeant upgrade.

And every infantry team unlocks an independent pair of drones to screen, harass, and tank wounds for more important weapons.

When I read the leaks, I bought another box of Start Collecting: Tau. Suddenly, Tau foot look like a blast to play.