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With the changes to Plasma Guns in 8th edition, with them only getting hot when overcharged, should Tau Plasma Rifles now be buffed up to S7 to bring them on par with their Imperial counterparts?

After all, the lower strength was initially a trade off for them not having Gets Hot! but now that the Imperial gun no longer has that downside unless firing overcharged (at which point it gains S8 and an extra point of damage), should the Plasma Rifle still be less powerful than the Plasma Gun firing in normal mode?

The Space Marine Plasma Gun is 2 points more expensive than the Rifle but for those two points it gets the aforementioned extra point of strength and the overcharge profile, not exactly an equitable trade.

Thoughts?

Honestly, I'd just switch it from Rapid-Fire 1 to Assault 2.

ETA: lemme expound on this a bit. The idea was that Tau plasma was weaker than Imperial stuff, but safer. Well, how about we change the tradeoff: it's weaker and equally safe, but it has better ROF at range while Imperial plasma can dial up the power.

Seems legit. I'd rather have 2dmg and keep the low AP. Tau are lacking 2dmg options generally and that way it's still notably weaker than the overcharged counterpart while playing a similar role.

jade_angel makes a good suggestion too but I think the point cost might go up more if we get an assault2 24' that also has more S and AP than pulse.

Hell make it basically an Assault version of the Starcannon

Assault 2 - 18" S6 AP-3 3D

I'd rather see T'au Plasma toe the line between the safe and dangerous versions of Imperium Plasma:

Str 6 or 7, AP -3, D2.

It would need a point cost increase.

Oh, if it's being changed to Assault

Change the name to Plasma Carbine

 Unusual Suspect wrote:
I'd rather see T'au Plasma toe the line between the safe and dangerous versions of Imperium Plasma:

Str 6 or 7, AP -3, D2.

It would need a point cost increase.

yeah, I'd pay ~15pts for that on a crisis. costs notably more than burst cannon, fewer shots by a strong margin than CIB, way less range than missile pod, not nearly what a fusion does. A good counter to terminators or other 2 wound models with admirable defense but wasted on standard infantry and less specialized for keeping distance or pounding vehicles than our other tools.

Rapidfire 1, 24", S6 AP-3 D2 Now GW make it so! I'm so happy they actually implemented the 5+++ shield drone idea that was posted on Dakka, good call Talamare.

Shas'O'Ceris wrote:

 Unusual Suspect wrote:
I'd rather see T'au Plasma toe the line between the safe and dangerous versions of Imperium Plasma:

Str 6 or 7, AP -3, D2.

It would need a point cost increase.

yeah, I'd pay ~15pts for that on a crisis. costs notably more than burst cannon, fewer shots by a strong margin than CIB, way less range than missile pod, not nearly what a fusion does. A good counter to terminators or other 2 wound models with admirable defense but wasted on standard infantry and less specialized for keeping distance or pounding vehicles than our other tools.

Rapidfire 1, 24", S6 AP-3 D2 Now GW make it so! I'm so happy they actually implemented the 5+++ shield drone idea that was posted on Dakka, good call Talamare.

Kind of skeptical about this in light of the Starcannon; the Eldar and the Tau are supposed to have at least comparable levels of tech, not sure why the Tau would be able to make a non-Heavy Starcannon when the Eldar apparently can't. Though 15pts isn't as far off a cost as it looked to me at first glance; the Starcannon is kind of overpriced after the nerf to d3 damage, so with the shorter range a reasonable person could call this plasma rifle a 20pt gun on BS3+, then knock the price back some for BS4+ and you get somewhere in the neighborhood of 15pts.

(Alternately: start with a plasma gun (15pts), take away a bit of strength (-cost), add damage without the risk of overheat (++cost), move to a BS4+ platform (-cost), and you get sort of back where you started.)

(So: "Looks reasonable, though starcannons need looking at too.")

No. Tau are mostly fine, just need some cost adjustments.

Martel732 wrote:
No. Tau are mostly fine, just need some cost adjustments.

I tend to agreee with Martel the problem is almost more a matter of points, Tau are paying 11 points for their plasma, if it's not a good option now it'd proably work better having the cost reduced a bit. (space marines pay 13 for plasma guns, guard a measily 7)

=if Tau plasma comes off as over costed and inefficant they could proably stand a cut in price

Martel732 wrote:
No. Tau are mostly fine, just need some cost adjustments.

It could seriously use +1 damage at minimal tho

I don't feel like it needs +damage that much, with missiles (d3) and fusion (d6+melta) being available on the same platform. What would be nice, though, is a weapon with good AP plus decent ROF. I wouldn't mind that coming at the expense of Strength. That'd make it kind of a niche anti-heavy-infantry weapon, but that's fine: fusion is a big-stuff killer, ion is a jack of all trades, and so are missiles (though they're expensive, but long-range, so I'm OK with that). Burst cannons or AFPs are the option for hunting light infantry, though Stealth Suits and Fire Warriors are probably better at the job overall.