A Tau Fire Warrior firing a pulse rifle.
Pulse Rifles are the standard weapons used by the Tau Fire Caste. The pulse rifle is the most commonly found pulse weapon, pulse pistols are used as a sidearm by some Tau commanders, All pulse weapons operate on the same principle; A particle is propelled by an induction field, The particle breaks down and creates a plasma 'pulse' which shoots out of the
weapon at an incredible speed. Damage is caused by the extreme heat and electrical charge of the plasma pulse. A pulse rifle is classed as a Plasma weapon, but unlike Imperial versions they are much more reliable and use more failsafes and cooling mechanisms. This makes them a lot safer and much more sensible to use on the battlefield en-masse. They are much weaker than the Imperial Plasma gun, but the bonuses of extra safety balances out this reduction in power. The Tau pulse rifle is longer ranged and more accurate than the Imperial Lasgun but is considerably more costly on resources to produce than it's Imperial counterpart.