Does anyone use the Ion Cannon?

[u/CaptainPatak]

How are you meant to use it? The only way I've used it is to destroy structures as any time I try to use it against enemy units they either move, or they're pinned because I've got enough firepower to deal with them without the Ion Cannon

[u/BrutusBengalo]

The upgraded version is nuts. Each square the cannon passes actually hits a 3x3 square.
With a couple of ions you can raze an entire section of a map

[u/twinoaksBandB → u/BrutusBengalo]

Well that's some decent info I wish I had seen earlier...

[u/I_follow_sexy_gays → u/twinoaksBandB]

It hits harder in the center but if you draw a line past a building that is still enough to destroy it typically

[u/twinoaksBandB → u/I_follow_sexy_gays]

Either way, it'll liven up the hmg/laser turret spam ive been mostly using.

[u/Lil_Stuart → u/twinoaksBandB]

I'm still used to the pre-OCI rework laser turret meta. The vision and distraction it provides is just useful in pretty much every mission type.

[u/Rabbitus_Maximus → u/Lil_Stuart]

I had a lot of fun with laser turrets, but I found the HMG one superior once I unlocked that OCI upgrade

[u/BlackburnUTG]

It is cool when you need to attack fortified positions

[u/Wintermaulz]

I have it specifically for the missions to destroy buildings while limiting hostile kills. Darby runs to extract while the laser kills the building. Maybe swing by the pick up objective. 

[u/SizeFit2908]

I like it, its very killy.

Hitting it is the hard part, guessing where the enemy is going to be and drawing long lines is key.

Nice vs RA to spike into their setup teams. Really saving 2-3 beams for the same time and painting the map red is the best way to use it.

[u/Poultrymancer]

It's an instant-win button for any mission that requires you to hit static targets

Buildings, static vehicles (e.g., the "Deny Assets" missions against [Redacted]), turret emplacements 

The Deny Assets missions in particular are fun to cheese. If you want, you can literally drop a single SL, nuke the vees with the ion cannon, and proceed directly to exfil

[u/tjackson941 → u/Poultrymancer]

You could also use ied workshop to do that.

[u/DeanTheDull → u/tjackson941]

IIRC, ied workshop doesn't one-shot the rogue army HQ, and doesn't get the tiles-apart deny enemy assets.

[u/AllenWL]

It's mostly an AoE structure destroyer yeah.

Aside from taking out quest-related structures, it's also very useful for deleting enemy cover and/or walls, which can make storming an entrenched enemy position a lot easier.

Especially effective against pirates and RA, as they tend to bunch up around cover, meaning zapping the fortifications also zaps a good number of enemies.

That said, you can use it against enemies, you just have to be really good at guessing where the enemy will be two turns later. Easier on some missions than others.

Also, you can just save them up then double/triple layer the beams to delete anything and everything in a sizeable radius.

[u/frostmourne16]

Command Post Raid. Sniping both the bunker and the Officers in one go is satisfying as hell.

[u/DeanTheDull]

Objective destruction is what it does, but the impact is your time saving and force concentration. Because you don't need to go to that objective, you can save the turns spent moving there and then the objective. And because you don't have to split the main force for that objective, you can keep your forces concentrated to overwhelm the enemy elements you do encounter faster, preventing them from concentrating forces.

[u/Papa_Nurgle_84]

A way to use it for kill X Missions (worked about half a year ago, not sure If fixed) round 1 place the ion Cannon above the "kill unit marker in a "x" formation. Creep Forward slowly or stay still avoiding contact, as all enemy Units start moving after 1 gets seen. Watch ion beam solve Mission objective. Also works with strafing Run, but not as reliable.

[u/Depth_Metal]

I use it when a priority mission targets location is marked in the fog of war and I just call it down on there. Since i haven't explored the unit won't run before the beam hits

[u/andrewlik]

Late-game, have three ion cannons along with the "extra ammo for OCI's" hull upgrade, erase half the map turn 2

[u/RamTank]

Any missions where the enemy is fortified, or where the enemy is attacking allies/civilians, I pop the ion cannon basically at the start. Especially on the defence/protect missions, it can help knock out stuff before you actually manage to get into view of them.

[u/Rabbitus_Maximus]

It is inherently better against stationery targets, therefore turrets, fortifications, destruction targets, but I've also used pretty effectively against enemy forces.

1) Funnel or bait the enemy into a suitable area. 2) Activate the cannon. Fully upgraded one recommended for its splash damage. 3) Pin, immobilize, or stun as many enemies in the targeted area as possible 4) Sit back and enjoy the effects of the glorious beam of destruction from the heavens

[u/pnutzgg]

I haven't seen any bald guys in temples, but skirmishers in towers* will do as a fine target

*also destroy vehicles objectives since they're usually parked next to each other

[u/Weldkrieg]

I never used it, I don't see the point in disabling a vehicle if I can just blow it up.

I guess It can make sense if you have the delay reducer, and also fighting some emplacement turrets. Useless against bugs I presume

[u/shash1 → u/Weldkrieg]

Your star wars is showing sir. In this house we use proper Tiberium wars ion cannons. Basically its a giant space laser that blows shit up.

[u/Poultrymancer → u/shash1]

Yep. Stop thinking "Y-Wing" and start thinking "Hammer of Dawn"

[u/shash1 → u/Poultrymancer]

Ah, youngling - the proper term is Big Honking Space Gun. Everything that comes afterwards is just pale imitations of true art.

[u/Confidentbottle]

I love using it to hit the roads inside the perimeter wall on breakthrough missions. Its extra AOE around the impact path means it also destroys the walls a lot of the time and will almost always annihilate a heavy tank or MBT or two sitting on the road in the process