Hi,

I`m browsing exchange lists for weapons for a time. But still now, I cannot recognised cannon and dual cannons are what for? I never read any ship config with them, and I never sold one of its on exchange. and of course I never bought them. (or only by mistake)

May be somebody of you have idea about these weapons....

Thanks in advance.

I'm pretty new at STO, but my understanding is that they're really intended for Escorts, and most/all other ships can't even equip them. I read somewhere earlier today that they're pretty effective in close (< 4 Km) but from further out don't do much. I've tried using them on my Level 25 tactical officer's Akira and wasn't terribly impressed. I switched to dual phaser beam banks instead.

Hopefully someone with more experience and empirical knowledge of the subject will come along and have more useful/reliable advice.

Cannons trade a wide arc of fire for higher damage. The most common use is to take an Escort with its high maneuverability, put cannons in the front weapon slots and turrets in the back (so they can add to forward damage) and make strafing runs, using the escort's high maneuverability to compensate for the small firing arc. Especially when combined with the skills Attack Pattern Alpha and Cannon Rapid Fire, such a setup will have several times the damage output of a similar ship loaded with beam arrays, but it is very dependant on having the right Tactical officers and decent-enough piloting skills.

Yeah the Akira doesn't really have the Tac slots to use Cannons that well and your better off with DBBs. Since Klingon Cruisers, BoPs and Raptors all have cloaking devices they can close range and make better use of cannons at the lower tiers.

Thank you for the answers. It seems cannons are good for lower tier ships. Dual cannons are for nothing, and as I recogmosed mk xii purple cannons are also useless.

... dual (heavy) cannons are the bread and butter of your typical escort build - how the heck is that "nothing"?

Dual heavy yes, but dual and single cannons......

Cannons have a 180 degree arc and can be used by more than escorts if you know what your doing...dual cannons and heavy dual cannons and meant for escorts mostly.

I think when you say cannons, people think you mean DHCs or Dual Heavy Cannons. Single Cannons are used in only one build I know of, and thats the excelsior cannons and turrets build. Dual Cannons have the same DPS as Dual Heavy Cannons, but more shots over time. So on hit effects are better with Dual Cannons, Dual Heavies pack more punch up front. Single Cannons and Turrets can be equipped on anything. Dual Cannons and Dual Heavy Cannons can only be equipped on escorts and the dreadnaught (and some KDF ships, whatever KDF doesn't count).