How should I use the Plasma, the Flamer and the SMG

[Rydra]

Hi, I've been playing right now for a while and I really perform pretty well with the rifle for long distances and the shotgun for short ones (basically because they are common weapons in almost all sort of FPS), however, I wanted to try to use the flamer, the plasma and the SMG, yet I don't see the point of using them over the 2 ones above. Plasma seems like a slower version of the SMG and I don't know if the secondary is any useful (I'm sure most players can dodge the big plasma ball), the flamer... seems a no-brainer spammy and dangerous-to-oneself with low damage to my eyes and the SMG seems only useful situationally on mid-distance fights (short distance shotguns performs better IMHO).

I'm sure I'm saying all these statements from a noobie's POV, so I'd wish to ask for some tips and tricks in order to use these weapons efficiently.

Thank you,

Rydra

[ballist1c]

Typing on my phone so this will be abit short:

No surprise, most of us use the shotgun +rifle combo, it's definitely not a bad thing. However you asked for tips so here you go:

Flamer: regarded by most as the "nooby" weapon, as it takes practically no skill to use. I can't really give you any tips for it except avoid water :P

SMG: this can become an overused weapon; make sure to balance it's usage. It has become slightly overpowered in 1.3, since quin added way too much hitpush to it. It's bullets ricochet off walls, like shotgun secondary, so be creative. Secondary is just good for general spam; nothing special

Plasma: best "spam" weapon ingame, good for spmall corridors and such. Secondary of course can be devastating in tight places, spawnpoints, and when players are chasing you, but be careful as you could end up with massive team kills by accident.

[Rydra]

Fine, I've been testing further the Flamer and the SMG. SMG is fine if you have good aim, and the flamer is good for close quarters and maybe in teamplay as support weapon for withering down people, yet I don't see the point of the plasma besides covering the field with big balls. Lower fire rate and damage than the SMG, and the missile's travelling time is very slow...

Any clue?

[qreeves]

The plasma is the last of the weapons to undergo balancing attention, it was overpowered in v1.2 (Cosmic) and earlier editions, and got nerfed too much in the v1.3 (Galactic) release. The solution was to meet in the middle between the two for v1.4 - and can currently be tested in SVN versions (which ack as v1.3.1). The play.redeclipse.net server will eventually have these settings pushed to it.

[riidom]

If you like to use the shotgun secondary, give the flamer secondary a try too. Whenever I use flamer, I use almost always the secondary fire. Kills are rare, I admit, but it is fun to use. When you come from above, place a carpet for foes to walk in. This is not very deadly, but if they have been low on health, the burn can get them. Around a corner in close combat, when you rush in surprisingly or when someone is straightly approaching you, do secondary fire directly on the player. It is way quicker, since you dont need to stay and spray him with primary, and the damage, when you land a critical, is higher.
Slightly offtopic, dont think the pistol is a weak weapon, just because it is default loadout. Bodyhits make 30 and a bit damage, if I remember right, and the reload takes like 1 second.
Again offtopic: Use /aboveheaddamage 1 (in autoexec.cfg for permanent use) to see damage values. It helps to rate weapons in different situations.