Details

The Plasma is a pickup that, when used, fires a bolt of high-energy plasma in a straight line in front of the user's craft. The bolt is unguided and takes half a second to charge, making it very difficult to aim, but it a hit is scored the Plasma will deal very heavy damage and slowdown to the afflicted craft, often resulting in an elimination. It deals the most damage of any weapon in the game. Despite its very low pickup rate and its high skill-requirement, the Plasma is one of the best ways to score eliminations.

Trivia

In game versions before 1.0, the Plasma would instantly eliminate any ship, but it took a full second to charge and was not affected by gravity, making it considerably more powerful yet harder to aim.
The Plasma and Tremor are the only Pickups with the ability to destroy Energy Walls if they come into contact.
The Plasma can only be picked up by AI ships if the AI Difficulty is set to Elite or Hardcore.