Talk:Auto-Cannon

Is the Auto Cannon heavier than the Heavy Cannon? I thought it was the other way round. Fullauto 11:55, 18 April 2007 (PDT)

See Item Weights. AC is slightly heaver; 18 vs. 19. Heavy Cannon clips weigh more, so they're equal (24) when a clip is loaded, and with additional clips, HC edges AC out.--Ethereal Cereal 13:49, 18 April 2007 (PDT)

Ah, thank you. Fullauto 12:40, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

By the way, it can be quite fun to spray explosive Auto Cannon rounds from an elevated position. Not always practical, but fun. Also it helps since you don't need to score a direct hit to do damage. Captain Foo 08:44, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

Tone of article

Okay, so the article as it currently stands says that AC-HE is the way to go. I disagree. The Auto-Cannon is only worth using in Auto mode (since it's literally the only advantage the AC has over the Heavy Cannon), and the problem of one hit killing the alien and a second destroying its loot is specific to Auto-mode explosives. I'd use the HC-HE instead, since even though the damage isn't that much better, the fact that you're not using Auto mode means you're not gaining anything from using the AC besides a larger clip.

AP rounds are at least not counterproductive to use, and they're pretty effective, but the 6 shots per turn compared to the Rifle's 7 and lower accuracy create difficulties, and they're only better at DPS than the Heavy Cannon if you don't count the HC as getting 3 shots per turn.

Where the Auto-Cannon really comes into its own, IMO, is incendiary rounds. Large IC rounds aren't much better than small ones, since illumination always extends 9 squares from the edge of the fire; an AC-I round provides an 11-square radius of illumination, while an Incendiary Rocket provides a 13-square radius. Moreover, using small IC rounds maximises the number of fires you can start before running into the fire limit, and since you want lots of fires, the larger AC clip is very useful. That it can use auto-bursts to start widely-spaced collections of fires is just gravy.

(I'll note at this point that since you want AC-I bursts to be as widely-spaced as possible, and friendly "fire" doesn't exist after you get Personal Armour, you probably want as low an accuracy as possible on the bursts; for that I'd recommend a low-accuracy rookie (use the same one each time, because incendiary rounds don't improve Firing Accuracy) carrying a Laser Pistol or Stun Rod in his other hand for 10% accuracy or so.)

The use of the AC-I to destroy Sectopods also probably deserves more attention than it's given. Funky Fire's a bug, but incendiaries ignoring armour isn't. Funky Fire is merely why the Auto-Cannon is so far in front of the other two IC weapons. There's also the use of IC rounds (or Stun Bombs) to solve the "camping alien in Medium Scout behind the Power Source" problem (which is otherwise a deathtrap, as any soldier stepping around the Power Source will invariably trigger reaction fire).

Your impressions? Magic9mushroom (talk) 05:14, 15 May 2015 (EDT)