@SavatoNot sure where you're getting 'higher precision'?
Secondly, I'm thinking of how you'd define the destructive capacity of these weapons. Judging from the game it's about twice that of the assault weapons being used, but that's gameplay, and as established not very reliable. So I'd like to check with you once more on that point, to ensure that I have an idea of how much it's actually going to do when it hits.
Yes, but to those people a millisecond is far longer. Those are superhuman beings with reflexes so massively superhuman they'd have to have a fully electrical brain. Nothing in the Xcom game or lore indicates that the Mutons have reflexes or movements even close to that. It would take longer than 50 milliseconds to pull the trigger for most people, which is why sonic movement is so incredibly powerful.
@Dreaming"id say its safe to assume a plasma rifle is moving faster than sound"
I found that way too amusing.
Plasma is a form of matter. It isn't any more electrical in nature than any other form of matter. It is subject to the normal laws of physics, and it's movement speed is entirely dependent on the force applied to it.
You do realize that we have the technology to ionize gas relatively easily, right? Like, you can get a little lamp-like thing that does just that. Commercially. It just isn't superheated. But I agree that plasma weapons could easily be used to fire at the speed of sound or beyond, because alien tech can do whatever it wants.