viable to skip plasma straight to MAG?

[momerathe]

I've got the heavy plasma and the assault plasma, and am currently researching them.

If I understand Kordanor's tech tree right, though, you don't have to have researched plasma weaponry to get to Mag- you just need to pick up the other two alien guns. how soon do they appear? can lasers bridge the gap?

the reason I ask is that it seems to take an exceedingly long time to manufacture a squad's-worth of kit, not to mention grinding crashed ufos for raw materials, and I'm not really looking forward to making a whole bunch of plasma rifles when I could be building Corsairs instead

[Irishguy117]

I wouldn't reccomend trying it. Scatter lasers will remain useful, hell with predator armor ballistic MGs can be useful until you start making magstorms, but lasers will be obsolete very quickly. If you want to do it you'll have to move very cautiously and remember that you will only be able to engage aliens with 2 or 3-1 odds, one soldier will be incapable of killing aliens by himself unless he's got a heavy weapon.

[momerathe]

[...] you'll have to move very cautiously and remember that you will only be able to engage aliens with 2 or 3-1 odds,

Sounds like how I normally play

[noname19]

I have been waiting very long time to upgrade laser weapons to MAG. After several months, I was so fed up with lasers I equiped everyone with plasma anyway. Still waiting for MAGs and enemies are more and more resilient. So: upgrade as soon as you can, it will be worth it.