Your reply was so damn long I had to to keep track of where I was lol! not a bad thing tho.
Well originally I was thinking that it just has a slow fire rate. But its called a “handheld” plasma caster.
So in keeping with the plasma caster tradition, I say we make it a charge to fire weapon. You have to charge it fully for it to fire. Its gotta take longer to charge than the shoulder cannon, but should be able to be held without firing like the bow is now.
Edit
It also might have an Audio cue to the charge, to warn the FT they are about to get blasted lol!