system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[General Sci-Fi] Is there really any benefit to plasma weaponry?

I don't see how plasma weaponry is better than your typical bullet. Lasers maybe, but not plasma.
gpt
As seen in the Human-Covenant war, plasma weapons are insanely deadly. Handheld plasma weapons used by the Covenant melted through infantry armour. The sheer heat caused severe third degree burns... On a near-miss. 

As well, to prevent technology from falling into enemy hands, some plasma weapons (such as the Energy Sword) had a built-in fail-safe that caused the plasma in the weapon to become unleashed and destroy the weapon. 

On top of that, the weapons could potentially be refilled with energy instead of bullets. Note, humanity hadn't figured out how to charge Covenant weapons. The fact that (potentially) one universal charger design could work for all your troopers is much better than needing to send out and organize multiple different kinds of bullets.

Plasma weapons just have so many perks that you couldn't easily get with normal ballistics. Significantly higher damage, self-destruct, and versatility. If you can effectively use plasma, there's no need for bullets.