I love using em cause they're fun, but I've never questioned their effectiveness as I don't do much PVP
How does everyone else feel about cannons?
How does everyone else feel about cannons?
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Ship Builds & Load Outs What does everyone think of cannons
- Thread starter Jackie McMackie
- Start date
X-Terminator
Banned
Fun if a bit expensive to re-arm.
They have a very limited range thanks to how slow they move - they have roughly the same effective range as frags, and the frag will do a lot more damage more quickly. They do have 2 big advantages: low power and fairly high ammo, making them good for CZ. They're not as good for shields, which seems to be what PvP is all about.
Gimballed C2 cannons are very usable against medium/large ship hulls in PvE, once you learn what shots to take. They don't suffer any damage penalty against large ships, they don't eat your capacitor, and they don't require frequent re-arming. They're a good secondary weapon.
They're worthless against shields.
They're worthless against shields.
like them after shields are down, especially in fast ships (dbs, cobra, clipper).
they are really good if you come close. not as good as frag cannos, but those outrule them for me for ammo.
it would make sense to put them into my larger hardpoints, but actually i normally put one into the smaller hp's, for an extra punch after shields are down (e.g.: cobra/dbs: medium mc, medium pulse, small burst, small cannon. clipper: 2 large pulse, 1 medium burst, 1 medium cannon).
they are really good if you come close. not as good as frag cannos, but those outrule them for me for ammo.
it would make sense to put them into my larger hardpoints, but actually i normally put one into the smaller hp's, for an extra punch after shields are down (e.g.: cobra/dbs: medium mc, medium pulse, small burst, small cannon. clipper: 2 large pulse, 1 medium burst, 1 medium cannon).
Can confirm with the consensus: they are great for punching above your weight.
When I was in a viper, I would empty the capacitor with burst lasers. A single pip (or even half a pip!) was more than enough to keep the burst lasers going long enough to drop the shields before I'd switch to cannons (which use virtually nothing). A clip into the power plant would end the ship.
As far as pvp is concerned, you might as well use frag cannons. They are more effective in every regard than cannons, several times over. Seriously - there are few pvp weapons as good as frag cannons.
When I was in a viper, I would empty the capacitor with burst lasers. A single pip (or even half a pip!) was more than enough to keep the burst lasers going long enough to drop the shields before I'd switch to cannons (which use virtually nothing). A clip into the power plant would end the ship.
As far as pvp is concerned, you might as well use frag cannons. They are more effective in every regard than cannons, several times over. Seriously - there are few pvp weapons as good as frag cannons.
Cannons are awesome. The big secret is to use fixed and not gimbaled. Gimbals always fire at the lead indicator, which does not account for any changes in direction and predicts where the ship would be given its instantaneous vector. Think tangent lines on a circle. Hence, they always miss if target is pitching, accelerating, decelerating.. anything but flying in a straight line.
Basically, you need to turn off your targeting computer and trust your instincts to unleash their full potential.
Basically, you need to turn off your targeting computer and trust your instincts to unleash their full potential.
... or you can switch from leading to trailing target mode. you will probably not unleash their full potential, but i still do more hits trailing than leading with cannons.
but i have to say, small and/or medium cannons i mostly get turreted (pve). it works.
on my viper, and later my scout always used cannons for the hull damage,
mostly because i disliked the spool-up of the multicannons.
but on my DBX and now the Vulture, i cannot seem to use the c3 ones. The projectile speed of C3's seems much slower compared to the small ones.
Sometimes i wished i could load sabot charges instead of HE Bullets
mostly because i disliked the spool-up of the multicannons.
but on my DBX and now the Vulture, i cannot seem to use the c3 ones. The projectile speed of C3's seems much slower compared to the small ones.
Sometimes i wished i could load sabot charges instead of HE Bullets
I use turreted C2 cannons and they get a lot of hits. Turrets set to target only. I tried the C3 one but it rarely hit unless I was very, very close to the target.
You can tell if you get a hit even if the enemy is off screen because of the low-pitch boom noise it makes.
You can tell if you get a hit even if the enemy is off screen because of the low-pitch boom noise it makes.
i have 1 c3 and 2 medium cannons on my Python. Great against large ships and for demolishing modules on said ships fast.
I agree that fixed is the key to using cannons. If your ship is agile enough to aim them, you can hit far more often, and at far longer ranges, with fixed vs a gimbal. Pegging a medium to large ship in a lazy turn at 1km+ isn't that usual anymore for me, even with the slower velocity of a C3.
They are great secondary weapons. My ASP is fitted with 4 small pulse lasers and 2 medium cannons class A. I tend to not use much the cannons except if facing big or really competent ships (Orca, Anaconda. Python, Class 7...) and ussually I aim them to any subsystem.
Too slow. Way too slow. I love 3 large pulse lasers and 2 medium multi cannons on my Python.
I agree - they are indeed worthless against shields as are most kinetic weapons. C2 cannons DO suffer from a damage penalty against large ships, but C3 cannons DO NOT suffer damage penalty against large ships.
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I like cannons, but like many weapons they are incapable of serving as primary weapons. I only use them on ships that have more than two mounts because you really need at least a pair of lasers.