A Plea for Single Cannons(Aft)

szerontzur

With the expansion coming right along, would it be possible to spare a moment to remove the Fore-Only restriction on Single Cannons?

They're currently(and have long-been) one of the most under-appreciated weapon types and this one change would breathe new life into them while opening up some new builds and playstyles.


I know there's the fear of 'kiting' builds, but the range/damage falloff on cannons naturally counters that and if there was a line, it was already crossed with the Tempest.

What it would do is promote close range skirmishing/tackling setups as well as mine-bomber/strafing builds. These playstyles naturally encourage players to be active and mobile, rather than parking in one spot and mashing spacebar.

woodwhity

Not that I fundamentally against it, hell, in this case I dont even care. But the argument of "would increase dmg" is invalid, as you would most likely lose much more damage than you gain. Especially with those RP, but mechanic-wise subpar- flightstyles.

welcome2earf

I say wtf not? If people are willing to trade off front arc damage for a little bit more rear arc damage, I can't for the life of me see any game breaking/changing effects. I mean, the Protonic cannon can already be put in an aft spot already, and the game is just dandy.

havokreign

It'd be beneficial in the same manner as beam arrays, in that if you're above or below your opponent you effectively have 360 arcs.

The 180 degree stuff always assumes you're on the same plane as they are in practice. :rolleyes:

mimey2

I've been wanting exactly this for a long time.

janus1975

I'd agree with having single cannons able to be put in aft positions. Sometimes a build would benefit from this, and if beams can be applied aft, why not a cannon?

lordsteve1

Aft cannons would be great fun.

It would open up a lot of build options as the current way to build any cannon boat is to just shove the aft end full of turrets to get max forward firepower.
But i'd happily have some aft facing cannons to allow for shots when i'm facing away from targets or retreating. I find I do plenty of dps just with the forward guns alone so having rear facing guns on an escort should not be a huge problem.

On my Tempest i find the tail gun pretty useful anyway, especially when getting chased down by npcs whilst waiting for my boff powers to recharge. So i'd love a bit more firepower at the aft end.

bareel

I support this idea. It would add new options to ship builds, always a good thing.

adwynyth

bareel wrote: »

I support this idea. It would add new options to ship builds, always a good thing.

I'll throw my support behind this, for exactly this reason.

More options is better.

caltair

omgosh i've so been wanting this too! it gets rather annoying to really develop cannon skills and then be stuck with turrets in the aft since they have so much less power than anything else. if someone catches you in the rear and manages to stay there you're screwed. having something with a bit more power would be oh so helpful.

notoryczny

Well, that could be fun. I agree, single cannons would get at least a bit of usefulness.