Editing Plasma gun

[[File:Plasma Rifle Doom E4M2.png|thumb|The plasma gun in [[E4M2: Perfect Hatred (Doom)|E4M2: Perfect Hatred]] appears to be unguarded...]]
[[File:GothicDM_plasma.png|thumb|The plasma gun being used in [[deathmatch]] play on [[GothicDM]].]]
{{Weapon versions|disambig={{thisisabout|weapon|doom1}}|doom3=Plasma gun (Doom 3)|doom4=Plasma rifle (Doom 2016)|doom5=Plasma rifle (Doom Eternal)}}
The '''plasma gun''' (also known as the '''plasma rifle''' in the game manuals, help screen and code comments) is a futuristic [[weapon]] with a segmented barrel, which fires blue and white bursts of {{wp|Plasma (physics)|plasma}}. It shares the player's stock of [[Energy cell (Doom)|energy cells]] with the [[BFG9000]] as a source of [[ammo]].

The plasma gun first appears in a [[secret|secret area]] of the very first level of the second episode, [[E2M1: Deimos Anomaly (Doom)|E2M1: Deimos Anomaly]], and happens to appear in every level of [[The Shores of Hell]], with the exception of the [[E2M8: Tower of Babel (Doom)|Tower of Babel]] level. It first appears in a non-secret area in the fifth level, [[E2M5: Command Center (Doom)|E2M5: Command Center]]. When picked up, it contains the equivalent ammo of 2 cells (totalling 40 units of energy, or 80 on the "I'm too young to die" and "Nightmare!" [[Skill level#Doom and Doom II skill levels|skill levels]]).

{{Quote|Plasma Rifles shoot multiple rounds of plasma energy - frying some demon butt!|[[Doom instruction manual]]|nosource=true}}

== Combat characteristics ==
=== Classic Doom ===
Each plasma burst inflicts 5-40 [[Hit point|points of damage]]. Although the rate of continuous fire is one burst every 3 [[tic]]s (about 0.086 seconds), there is a further pause of 21 tics (0.6 seconds) when the trigger is released.

=== Doom 64 ===
[[File:Doom 64 plasma rifle MAP17.png|thumb|The [[Doom 64]] plasma gun (both first person view and pickup sprite) at the start of [[MAP17: Watch Your Step (Doom 64)|MAP17: Watch Your Step]].]]
In [[Doom 64]], the plasma gun sprites are completely redrawn. It has a blue electric tube on top, which makes a constant buzzing sound. Like the shotguns, the recoiling animation is non-existent, likely to save cartridge space.

The main difference is that it fires at a slower rate of one projectile every 4 tics. Because the game runs at 30 tics per second instead of 35, this translates to one projectile every 0.133 seconds. If the trigger is released, there is no cooldown pause and the weapon is immediately ready to fire again. The amount of damage the projectiles do is unchanged, but they have a faster travel speed of 40 units per tic.

== Tactical analysis ==
Due to its high damage rate (three times that of the [[chaingun]]), the plasma gun is devastating against nearly any single opponent. A continuous barrage will stop an [[arachnotron]], [[mancubus]] or [[revenant]] dead in its tracks, and even reduce a [[baron of Hell]] to about half its normal movement speed and attack frequency. Attacking monsters from long ranges can be inefficient, however, as enemies tend to move too much for the bursts to be accurate; it is also difficult to use against flying monsters in open areas, as the first few hits push the enemy rapidly backward and often to one side of the stream. A good tactic to counter this weakness is to fire the plasma gun in controlled bursts, as opposed to fully automatic fire. Otherwise, it is a very powerful weapon that can be considered the game's jack-of-all trades.

Although the plasma gun does not inflict [[blast damage]], firing it in close quarters demands a certain amount of concentration owing to [[Autoaim#Horizontal autoaim|horizontal auto-aim]], which may steer its projectiles right into a wall if the nearest monster is not directly in front of the [[player]]. For example, using the plasma gun on the [[cyberdemon]] in [[E4M2: Perfect Hatred (Doom)|E4M2: Perfect Hatred]], without placing the player in its line of sight, requires aiming at a point slightly to the monster's left.

== Notes ==
[[File:Doom Toy guns.jpg|thumb|right|The toy gun which formed the basis of the plasma gun's sprite is visible at lower right.]]
* In the [[Doom press release beta]], the plasma gun fires green-white and orange-red bursts, alternating between the two colors. This is similar to that version's [[BFG9000]], which fires 40 of the same projectiles per shot. For the release of [[Doom]], these plasma bursts were made blue-white, and the gun [[sprite]] was changed slightly.
* Like the shotgun, the plasma gun was created from an existing toy gun, a dart-shooting {{wp|M60 machine gun|M60}}-like toy that was popular in the early 1990s (the version of the toy produced at that time was tan). The area in front of the bipod could be detached to use as a separate weapon. The designers simply turned the detachment around so that it was shown backwards. The resemblance is most apparent when the player lifts the weapon at the end of a volley.
* The rapid fire of the plasma gun often requires many [[sprite]]s to be [[Doom rendering engine|rendered]] simultaneously. This has been known to cause lag during multiplayer games or on older machines (see also the [[BFG9000#Notes|notes on the early BFG]]).
* The plasma gun can [[Gibs|gib]] [[Zombieman|zombiemen]] and [[Shotgun guy|sergeant]]s due to their rather low health (20 and 30 [[hit point]]s respectively).
* The plasma gun is apparently the best all-purpose weapon in the game according to the [[Doom source code]], since the automatic weapon switching when out of ammo (in {{c|P_CheckAmmo}} in {{c|P_PSPR.C}}) uses the order plasma gun > super shotgun > chaingun > shotgun > pistol > chainsaw > rocket launcher > BFG9000 > fist. The rocket launcher and BFG have low priority because of their heavily specialized roles which can make them undesirable in many situations. As a result of the priority settings, the player will switch automatically to the plasma gun if he attempts to fire the BFG without enough cell ammunition (40 shots), while this does not occur between the super shotgun and the shotgun.

* In the port of Doom on the SNES the Plasma Gun is significantly stronger and loses many sprites when firing.

== Data ==
{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="2"|Plasma gun data (original)
|-
| [[Thing types|Thing type]]||2004 (decimal), 7D4 (hex)
|-
| [[Mobj|Enum]]||MT_MISC28 (76)
|-
| Appears in||[[Doom]]/[[Ultimate Doom]]<br>[[Doom II]]/[[Final Doom]]
|-
| Radius||20
|-
| Height||16
|-
| [[Thing types|Class]]||[[Weapon]]<br>Pickup
|-
| Flags||{{c|1}} (decimal)<br>{{c|00000001}} (hex)
|-
| Flags list|| 0: Can be picked up
|-
| Spawns||MT_PLASMA (plasma ball)
|}
{{col-break|gap=0.5em}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="2"|Weapon attributes
|-
| Weapon slot||6
|-
| Included ammo||40 (80 on [[Skill level|skills]] 1 & 5)
|-
| Max ammo||300 (600 with [[backpack]])
|-
| Ammo type||[[Energy cell (Doom)|Energy cells]]
|-
| Shots per minute||700.0
|}
{| {{prettytable}}
! [[State]]!![[Sprite]]!!Frames
|-
| Before pickup||PLAS||1 [A]
|-
| Wielded||PLSG||1 [A]
|-
| Firing||PLSG||1 [A]
|-
| Pausing||PLSG||1 [B]
|-
| Flashing||PLSF||2 [AB]
|}
{{col-break|gap=1em}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="2"|Ranged attack
|-
| Type||[[Projectile]]
|-
| Enum||MT_PLASMA (34)
|-
| Velocity||25 [[map unit]]s per tic<br>(875 map units per second)
|-
| [[Damage]]||5-40
|-
| Radius||13
|-
| Height||8
|-
| Sprite||PLSS (in flight)<br>PLSE (impact)
|-
| Frames||2 [AB] (in flight)<br>5 [ABCDE] (impact)
|-
| [[Sound]]||DSPLASMA (firing)<br>DSFIRXPL (impact)
|-
| Flags||{{c|67088}} (decimal)<br>{{c|00010610}} (hex)
|-
| Flags list|| 4: No blocklinks (Inert)<br> 9: No gravity<br>10: Drops off ledges<br>16: Projectile
|}
{{col-end}}

{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="2"|Plasma gun data (Doom 64)
|-
| Enum||MT_WEAP_PLASMA (83)
|-
| Appears in||[[Doom 64]]/[[The Lost Levels|Lost Levels]]
|-
| Spawns||MT_PROJ_PLASMA (plasma ball)
|}
Data not listed is the same<br>as for the original version.
{{col-break|gap=0.5em}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="2"|Weapon attributes
|-
| Shots per minute||450.0
|-
| Sound||SFX_112 (idle)
|}
{| {{prettytable}}
! State!!Sprite!!Frames
|-
| Before pickup||PLSM||1 [A]
|-
| Wielded||PLAS||1 [A]
|-
| Firing||PLAS||3 [EAA]
|-
| Refiring||PLAS||2 [EA]
|-
| Animating||PLAS||3 [BCD]
|}
{{col-break|gap=1em}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="2"|Ranged attack
|-
| Enum||MT_PROJ_PLASMA (26)
|-
| Velocity||40 map units per tic<br>(1200 map units per second)
|-
| Sprite||PLSS
|-
| Frames||2 [AB] (in flight)<br>6 [CDEFGH] (impact)
|-
| Sound||SFX_035 (firing)<br>SFX_044 (impact)
|-
| Flags||{{c|66576}} (decimal)<br>{{c|00010410}} (hex)
|-
| Flags list|| 4: No blocklinks (Inert)<br>10: Drops off ledges<br>16: Projectile
|}
{{col-end}}

[[File:PlasmaHistogram.png|300px|thumb|none|''Damage done by each plasma rifle round'']]

{| {{prettytable}}
| '''Shots needed to kill'''<sup>1</sup>
| Mean
| {{wp|Standard deviation#Interpretation and application|Standard<br/>deviation}}
| Min
| Max
|-
|[[Barrel]]
|1.45
|0.60
|1
|3
|-
|[[Zombieman]]
|1.45
|0.60
|1
|3
|-
|[[Shotgun guy]]
|1.81
|0.76
|1
|4
|-
|[[Wolfenstein SS]]
|2.77
|0.78
|2
|5
|-
|[[Imp]]
|3.21
|0.92
|2
|6
|-
|[[Heavy weapon dude]]
|3.64
|0.98
|2
|6
|-
|[[Lost soul]]
|4.97
|1.09
|3
|9
|-
|[[Commander Keen]]
|4.97
|1.09
|3
|9
|-
|[[Demon]]
|7.22
|1.33
|5
|11
|-
|[[Spectre]]
|7.22
|1.33
|5
|11
|-
|[[Romero's head]]<sup>2</sup>
|11.65
|1.67
|8
|16
|-
|[[Revenant]]
|13.84
|1.72
|10
|18
|-
|[[Cacodemon]]
|18.33
|1.89
|14
|22
|-
|[[Pain elemental]]
|18.33
|1.89
|14
|22
|-
|[[Hell knight]]
|22.81
|2.10
|17
|27
|-
|[[Arachnotron]]
|22.81
|2.10
|17
|27
|-
|[[Mancubus]]
|27.24
|2.31
|21
|33
|-
|[[Arch-vile]]
|31.70
|2.42
|26
|37
|-
|[[Baron of Hell]]
|45.09
|2.84
|39
|51
|-
|[[Spiderdemon]]
|134.52
|1.70
|131
|139
|-
|[[Cyberdemon]]
|179.06
|3.17
|171
|186
|-
|}
<small>
#This table assumes that all calls to [[Pseudorandom number generator|P_Random]] for damage, [[pain chance]], impact animations, backfire checks, and muzzle lighting are consecutive. In real play, this is never the case: counterattacks and AI pathfinding must be handled, and of course the map may contain additional moving monsters and other randomized phenomena (such as [[Sector#Doom|flickering lights]]). It is also assumed that all projectiles are launched at nearly the same range, so that the various procedures call P_Random in the same ''sequence'' each time. Any resulting errors are probably toward the single-shot average, as they introduce noise into the correlation between the indices of "consecutive" calls.
#Assumes that direct hits are possible, which [[final boss|does not occur]] in any stock map.
</small>

== Appearance statistics ==
In the [[IWAD]]s the plasma gun is first encountered on these maps per [[Skill level#Doom and Doom II skill levels|skill level]]:

{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=50%}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="4"|Single-player
|-
!Game / ''Episode''!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
|''[[Knee-Deep in the Dead]]''||-||-||-
|-
|''[[The Shores of Hell]]''||[[E2M1: Deimos Anomaly]]||E2M1: Deimos Anomaly||E2M1: Deimos Anomaly
|-
|''[[Inferno]]''||[[E3M2: Slough of Despair]]||E3M2: Slough of Despair||E3M2: Slough of Despair
|-
|''[[Thy Flesh Consumed]]''||[[E4M2: Perfect Hatred]]||E4M2: Perfect Hatred||E4M2: Perfect Hatred
|-
|[[Doom II]]||[[MAP05: The Waste Tunnels]]||MAP05: The Waste Tunnels||MAP05: The Waste Tunnels
|-
|[[TNT: Evilution]]||[[MAP03: Power Control]]||MAP03: Power Control||MAP03: Power Control
|-
|[[Plutonia Experiment]]||[[MAP04: Caged]]||MAP04: Caged||MAP04: Caged
|-
|[[Doom 64]]||[[MAP07: Research Lab]]||MAP07: Research Lab||MAP07: Research Lab
|-
|[[The Lost Levels]]||[[MAP35: Evil Sacrifice]]||MAP35: Evil Sacrifice||MAP35: Evil Sacrifice
|}
{{col-break}}
{| {{prettytable}}
!colspan="4"|Multiplayer
|-
!Game / ''Episode''!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
|''Knee-Deep in the Dead''||-||-||-
|-
|''The Shores of Hell''||E2M1: Deimos Anomaly||E2M1: Deimos Anomaly||E2M1: Deimos Anomaly
|-
|''Inferno''||E3M2: Slough of Despair||E3M2: Slough of Despair||E3M2: Slough of Despair
|-
|''Thy Flesh Consumed''||[[E4M1: Hell Beneath]]||E4M1: Hell Beneath||E4M1: Hell Beneath
|-
|Doom II||[[MAP01: Entryway]]||MAP01: Entryway||MAP01: Entryway
|-
|TNT: Evilution||[[MAP01: System Control]]||MAP01: System Control||MAP01: System Control
|-
|Plutonia Experiment||[[MAP03: Aztec]]||MAP03: Aztec||MAP03: Aztec
|}
{{col-end}}

The IWADs contain the following numbers of plasma guns per skill level:

{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=50%}}
{| {{prettytable|style=text-align: center;}}
!colspan="4"|Single-player
|-
!Game / ''Episode''!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''[[Knee-Deep in the Dead]]''||''0''||''0''||''0''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''[[The Shores of Hell]]''||''8''||''8''||''8''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''[[Inferno]]''||''6''||''6''||''6''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Doom|Doom (registered)]]||14||14||14
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''[[Thy Flesh Consumed]]''||''8''||''8''||''8''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Ultimate Doom]]||22||22||22
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Doom II]]||25||26||26
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[TNT: Evilution]]||20||18||18
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Plutonia Experiment]]||31||31||31
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[Doom 64]]||31||31||31
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|[[The Lost Levels]]||4||4||4
|}
{{col-break}}
{| {{prettytable|style=text-align: center;}}
!colspan="4"|Multiplayer
|-
!Game / ''Episode''!!1-2!!3!!4-5
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''Knee-Deep in the Dead''||''0''||''0''||''0''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''The Shores of Hell''||''10''||''10''||''10''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''Inferno''||''7''||''7''||''7''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|Doom (registered)||17||17||17
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|''Thy Flesh Consumed''||''10''||''10''||''10''
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|Ultimate Doom||27||27||27
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|Doom II||35||36||36
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|TNT: Evilution||37||36||36
|-
|style="text-align: left;"|Plutonia Experiment||40||40||40
|}
{{col-end}}

==Appearances in other id Software games==
* The Hyper Blaster in ''{{wp|Quake II}}'' is an analogous weapon to the plasma gun, being a rapid-fire energy weapon that uses energy cells as ammo, sharing its ammo pool with the game's own BFG 10K.
* The plasma gun appears as a redesigned version in ''{{wp|Quake III Arena}}''. This plasma gun has a more streamlined, futuristic look with glowing plasma visible behind transparent parts. The plasma projectiles travel at a higher velocity and create a small radius of splash damage upon impact.
* Doom Eternal's plasma rifle bears a design strikingly similar to the original game's plasma gun.

== See also ==
* [[Rocket passes through the player who fired it]]
* [[Plasma gun (Doom 3)]]
* [[Plasma rifle (Doom 2016)]]
* [[Plasma rifle (Doom Eternal)]]

{{Doom weapons}}
[[Category:Plasma weapons]]