A single shot high calibre weapon, the Heavy Cannon is available to purchase from the start of the conflict.
The Heavy Cannon is almost identical to its vanilla counterpart. The primary changes is that this weapons explosive ammo must be researched before it can be purchased and it can later be upgraded powerwise Elerium-115 High Explosive Ammunition. Its ammo can be upgraded to also fire Alien Alloy Ammunition, which provides a 1,5 factor damage bonus compared to regular armour piercing ammo. Snapshot and Aimed get a 10% accuracy boost compared to vanilla.
With powerful upfront damage, the Heavy Cannon is one of the most powerful direct fire weapons available to X-COM at the start of the conflict. Outside of dedicated explosive weapons, the Heavy Cannons AP ammo is the most reliable way to terminate early enemy alien forces, and the researchable explosive HE rounds can prove not only to be very effective against standard hostiles, but also an effective way to destroy terror Reapers. However this weapon will still struggle to contend with Cyberdiscs. It is also still a very heavy weapon to carry, and soldiers wielding it may struggle to carry additional items or combat armour.
This weapon is best employed in mid-range combat where its snap-fire setting can be used. Using HE ammo can help compensate somewhat for inaccurate fire, as even a near miss can still wound or kill the intended target. However HE ammo comes with the risk of destroying alien artefacts. The small ammo reserve also bears consideration, due to the heavy weight of carrying additional ammo, be wary of expending ammo needlessly. Once Elerium-115 High Explosiv Ammo (EHE) becomes available the Heavy Cannon is basically turned into a multi rocket launcher weapon.
Statistics
Power: Dependent
Size: 3 high x 2 wide
Weight: 16
TUs:
Snap: 33% (Accuracy 70%)
Aimed: 80% (Accuracy 100%)
Price: $6,400
Sell Price: $4,800
Minimum Range: 5 tiles
UFO Extender Accuracy values:
Snapshot Range: 22 Tiles
Accuracy Dropoff: 3% per tile ouside of range.
Ammo
Armour Piercing Clip
Power: 56 Armor Piercing
Capacity: 6
Size: 1 high x 2 wide
Weight: 5
Price: $300
Sell Price: $225
Alloy Ammo Clip
Power: 84 Armor Piercing
Capacity: 6
Size: 1 high x 2 wide
Weight: 5
Manufacturing: $3,000 for parts, 2 Alien Alloys, 50 Engineering Hours
The following lists how many times a soldier can fire the gun by shot type continuously in any given round and the remaining percentage of any left over TUs that cannot be spent as a shot.
