Cannons
- Thread starter Decksmeck
- Start date
unengineered they are useless, especially the turret version, they never hit anything, dont use turret cannons, any other type of turret is fine
use turret railguns , they cool
use turret railguns , they cool
Serious answer - cannons are useful if you want high burst damage with low distributor draw and longer range than frags. Like any weapon, only viable if you can land the shots, so don't bother with turrets. I quite like them overcharged with the explosive shell experimental - great for trashing modules.
That said, if you're looking for something to spam fire while you run away, consider mine launchers. A cloud of shock mines (camouflaged with jettisoned biowaste containers, for instance) can be a hilarious welcome mat for the unwary pursuer.
That said, if you're looking for something to spam fire while you run away, consider mine launchers. A cloud of shock mines (camouflaged with jettisoned biowaste containers, for instance) can be a hilarious welcome mat for the unwary pursuer.
Unfortunately cannons are always good for a disappointment. Damage numbers in e.g. Coriolis are one thing, but in real life they are somewhat underwhelming. Once I've tried a full cannon Python - it was like throwing paper balls at a tank. I would not recommend using more than one cannon at a time. Depending on your vessel either long-range or SRB with an useful secondary such as dispersal or high yield.
G5 Long Range Cannons with force shell can really upset your targets aiming.
Combined with a G5 Focused Target Lock Breaker PA, gives the same shot speed, so one reticle, and a major annoyance to your target.
Combined with a G5 Focused Target Lock Breaker PA, gives the same shot speed, so one reticle, and a major annoyance to your target.
Canons rock. They are the most useful counter to slow p.a's in the game.
As primary battery on an evasive build they are simply superb.
As primary battery on an evasive build they are simply superb.
^ This. Cannons have one problem and one problem only, low ammo count. In every other way, when fully engineered they are an excellent utility weapon. They apply a wide variety of special effects, including dispersal (foxes enemy gimbals), force shell (usage described above), high yield (module damage) and thermal cascade (effectively imparts heat to your target).
When I'm in the mood for a challenge, I love outfitting my ships with fixed cannons. Most people pick long range, not sure why - I pick short range blasters for the extra punch (due to shot speed, best to be closer to the target to ensure a hit). The "knock people sideways" special effect is loads of fun as well, especially in noob PvP.
I've punched above my weight in my Sidewinder using two fixed cannons, and my Vulture can one-shot many smaller NPCs with the two size 3 cannons. I've yet to try a size 4 cannon, but someday I will. The biggest problem for me with cannons is landing shots on small, nippy ships like Eagles. Larger, slower ships like the Asp Explorer and Krait make great targets for cannons. I've taken out Kraits using my Sidewinder!
BTW, equipping fixed cannons was the first time I found use for using the alternate reticle targeting mode, as I personally find this easier to land hits.
The long range cannon shoots at the multi-cannon speed. If you get a firing solution on an enemy when he is stalling after a boost, as long as he is out of shields already, that cannon shot can be deadly. It pierces deep into the modules, so it's excellent to take out powerplants, or engines when pursuing an enemy.
Although they're not my normal choice of weapon, I like using cannons on some builds; mainly as an alternative to multis.
I'm currently swapping my DBS from multis to cannon. Not sure whether to go for Long Range or Sturdy. LR gives a better chance of hitting at range, wheras Sturdy seems to do more damage once the shields are down (esp with HYS).
I'm currently swapping my DBS from multis to cannon. Not sure whether to go for Long Range or Sturdy. LR gives a better chance of hitting at range, wheras Sturdy seems to do more damage once the shields are down (esp with HYS).
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Ahem, that was sufficient click bait cmdr. Alternate reticule targeting mode? really? please enlighten us young ducks cmdr!
![[VR] DDM_Reaper20](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/44/44021.jpg?1588332101){kind=avatar}
I think he's referring to an option found in the right-hand control panel, under "ship" you'll encounter an option to change the reticule from "leading" to something else (following? I'll be gobsmacked with a week-old haddock if I remember).
Lagging vs leading, or vice-versa, I don't recall. The default mode is where you aim at the reticle to hit the target, the alternative mode, which I find useful for cannons, is where the reticle shows where the cannons will hit, so you steer the ship to put that reticle on the ship / subsystem you're aiming at.
Cheers, I'll have a play this weekend with that.
Fixed cannons are awesome IMO, gimballed slightly less so but still very good on ships with bad convergence. I wouldn't even consider turrets though.
Cannons have only one disadvantage, that being low shot speed. Otherwise it's all positive - high single shot damage, high DPS, low power requirements, low distributor draw, little heat generated per shot, good armor piercing, high chance to pierce hull, good amount of ammo.
Once you learn to aim and anticipate enemy ship movement (which took several years in my case ) cannons are deadly against all but very small or very fast ships. I have 1 cannon on my DBX and Mamba, 2 on my Cutter, Python, Keelback and Cobra, 4 on Type-10 and Challenger. Once I tried a 3 fixed cannon setup on a DBX and was quite surprised by how effective it was.
Cannons have only one disadvantage, that being low shot speed. Otherwise it's all positive - high single shot damage, high DPS, low power requirements, low distributor draw, little heat generated per shot, good armor piercing, high chance to pierce hull, good amount of ammo.
Once you learn to aim and anticipate enemy ship movement (which took several years in my case
) cannons are deadly against all but very small or very fast ships. I have 1 cannon on my DBX and Mamba, 2 on my Cutter, Python, Keelback and Cobra, 4 on Type-10 and Challenger. Once I tried a 3 fixed cannon setup on a DBX and was quite surprised by how effective it was.I never use cannons against shields. But when shields are down, I consider them the best weapon. Too bad they lack in special effects. Their shot looks like a ships' cannon volley, minus the impact blast. I think it's too lame. It should be something more fiery, like a sudden flaming trail, a shrieking after the deep Boom, and a large blast of fire and black smoke at the impact.
While I'm also a cannon fan, I would say they have a second weakness. None of their specials counter shields*, so a pure cannon build is really going to struggle vs shield tanks. Less relevant in high-level PvP where folks are going to have shields engineered with balanced resistances, but in more laid-back settings the lack of thermal damage makes a difference.
* Yes you specifically mentioned thermal cascade, which from its description does sound like it's meant to be a shield counter by imparting heat whether it strikes shield or hull. But I've never managed to use it where it felt like I was accomplishing anything that way.
A pirate's ship isnt that piratific without a battery of bigshootas!
I have no trouble defeating shields with cannon, at least on NPC ships. Shields increase target size, making it easier to hit. And cannons deal so much raw damage (I'm using overcharged mod pretty much exclusively) with almost no distributor draw, so I just keep spamming until the shield goes down - even through SCB use.
I realize this is not the fastest way to take down shields but as I said it works well enough for me.
Unengineered they can be quite effective too, if you use a lot of them together.
For giggles, I threw two large cannons on my Vulture (not engineered) and was surprised how effective the build was. It's agile enough to easily get the cannons on target, and if you are consistently hitting with the cannons and following up with ramming, it's quite deadly even when hitting above one's weight class. Not hard to solo Anacondas.
The low ammo count is a bummer though.
At one point, I had all cannons on my Federal Gunship, the Fullmetal Monitor. That was pretty fun too.