how exactly do ion attacks worK?

By The_Brown_Bomber, in X-Wing Rules Questions

Posted at

wow so ive been playing for quite a while but because i rarely play with ion cannons or ion turrets im a little rusty on how they work.

a few questions on ion attacks.

1) can you use an ion attack without using target lock?

2) If I use an ion attack on a ship that has shields do they just lose one shield and avoid the ion token altogether? shields stop the ion token right?

3) the different between an ion rurret and an ion cannon is the turret has longer range (1-3) and can only be used by the slave1 and may only target ships within the prinary firing arc???

Posted at

The_Brown_Bomber said:

wow so ive been playing for quite a while but because i rarely play with ion cannons or ion turrets im a little rusty on how they work.

a few questions on ion attacks.

1) can you use an ion attack without using target lock?

2) If I use an ion attack on a ship that has shields do they just lose one shield and avoid the ion token altogether? shields stop the ion token right?

3) the different between an ion rurret and an ion cannon is the turret has longer range (1-3) and can only be used by the slave1 and may only target ships within the prinary firing arc???

1) Yes

2) No. Shields stop the one point of damage from being applied to the hull, but it does not stop the Ion Effect.

3) You wrote it backwards. The Ion CANNON (not turret) can only be used by a Firespray, has a longer range, and can only target ships in the primary firing arc. the Ion cannon TURRET can only be used on the Y-Wing (for now anyway), has range 1-2, and has a 360 degree arc of fire.

Posted at

dvang said:

The_Brown_Bomber said:

wow so ive been playing for quite a while but because i rarely play with ion cannons or ion turrets im a little rusty on how they work.

a few questions on ion attacks.

1) can you use an ion attack without using target lock?

2) If I use an ion attack on a ship that has shields do they just lose one shield and avoid the ion token altogether? shields stop the ion token right?

3) the different between an ion rurret and an ion cannon is the turret has longer range (1-3) and can only be used by the slave1 and may only target ships within the prinary firing arc???

1) Yes

2) No. Shields stop the one point of damage from being applied to the hull, but it does not stop the Ion Effect.

3) You wrote it backwards. The Ion CANNON (not turret) can only be used by a Firespray, has a longer range, and can only target ships in the primary firing arc. the Ion cannon TURRET can only be used on the Y-Wing (for now anyway), has range 1-2, and has a 360 degree arc of fire.

wow, cool, thanx for the info. ion attacks r better than i thought. the fact they can effect ships with shileds makes them way better than iv been playing them.

Posted at

Indeed, it's one of the Y-Wing's biggest strengths. Allowing it to slip through a cordon sometimes that would otherwise see it totalled.

Posted at

The_Brown_Bomber said:

dvang said:

wow, cool, thanx for the info. ion attacks r better than i thought. the fact they can effect ships with shileds makes them way better than iv been playing them.

http://teamcovenant.com/buhallin/2013/04/17/case-study-ion-cannons/

Something pointed out at the link above--a lot of people have it in their head that you have to take down shields before you Ionize due to the old X-Wing/TIE Fighter games. But a close reading of the rules says otherwise.