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I used to rely very heavily on the marine pistol, now I almost never use it. I replaced it with the plasma pistol as my primary or secondary weapon. For all of the hype and fuss over the years that the marine pistol is so overpowered, by comparison, the plasma pistol is darn near batman's utility belt.
A comparison:
Grunts-the nod goes to the marine pistol, single headshot and it is bye bye grunty.
Jackals-same as above IF you can get the headshot, plasma pistol takes down shields and kills Mr. Mowhawk dead dead dead.
Elites-on legendary taking down a fully shielded elite with a pistol is alot of fun, until you have to reload and his shield has a chance to recharge, then it just becomes a waste of not so often run across pistol ammo. You can take him down with a plasma pistol with more ease.
Hunters-the single shot to the exposed torso or back is kind of a let down unless I am playing for speed. With the plasma pistol, it scores hits all over the body, and the melee with my fist is very satisfying for close quarter hunter hunting. As an added bonus, the pinging noise that a plasma pistol shot makes when it ricochets off their armor or shield is worth twice the price of admission!
Flood-awesome flood stopper, weapon dropper and general finger in the -blam!- to stop the flood.
Sentinels-plasma is the best way to knock dem som o bittttchers down.
Ghosts/Wraiths-you can take them out far quicker with a plasma pistol than a marine pistol. There is something very manly about going toe to toe with a wraith armed with a plasma pistol!
Banshees-no argument, marine pistol. The zoom makes connecting so much easier, even I do not have the patience very often to go at a banshee with a plasma pistol, but it can be done. You basically have to commit yourself to taking damage in order to take them out in less than an hour.
One of the main reasons that I used to be such a big fan of the marine pistol was the zoom, and the ability to go longer range with accuracy, but after some initial experiments trying to snipe with the plasma pistol I realized that that unassuming little piece of covie trash was almost as useful (not as fun, but useful) as the human sniper rifle. After dedicating myself to really exploring how much I coudl do with it, I decided it just might be the best overall weapon in the game!
Given that there have to be darn near a thousand plasma pistols scattered throughout the game, the charged shot, and the cool homing feature, I have really grown attached to the Plasma Pistol. It also makes for somewhat more challenging game play when you use it as your main weapon and almost never use the backup. As an added benefit I also tend to use alot more grenades when playing with the plasma pistol as my main weapon, and well who couldn't see the benefits in that!