Talk:Ion Cannon Turret/@comment-26821248-20150726022849/@comment-26821248-20150726125935

Good points, however, is it really that much of an imbalance? In a way, it's self-balancing so as to not add a significant advantage. I can think of 3 reasons:

1. Ion weapons still have to hit the target by going through the roll process i.e. they aren't guaranteed a hit. In addition, they are the only attack that ship will make (barring a very few exceptions).

2. They do very little actual damage so are balanced in that way. In essence, you're unlikely to kill with an ion weapon so it's a tool to buy you time and space … provided you hit (see 1)

3. This only applies in situations where a higher skilled pilot has attacked a lower skilled pilot. So if I have my Gold Squadron pilot zipping around in a Y-wing in order to zap a target a turn with ion cannon turret, I won't see this effect. So, it would cost me MORE points (buying a better pilot) to get this result therefore providing more balance … again, provided it hit the target and I don't choose a different weapon to just space the other pilot.

I tried this last night with Dutch Vander paired with Solo against Fel, another interceptor and a TIE advanced prototype playing the Imp Aces mission. The Falcon became the favored target of the Imps so Dutch became the consummate wingman. The TIE Adv was last in the shooting lineup and this particular effect (ionization effects occurring immediately and preventing him from engaging in that turn) only happened once. Not from lack of trying, mind you, but because of poor rolling on the y-wing's attack and good rolling on the TIE Adv defense. But that ionizing event did happen when the TIE Adv was at range 1 of the Falcon with the upgraded weapons prototype activated and the Falcon's shields down so the Imp missed out on rolling 5 red that turn. All-in-all, neither I nor my opponent saw a tremendous imbalance playing that way. I'd prefer to see the rules changed to add this nuance which would make ion weapons a bit more effective. Regardless, the rules should be clarified to spell out what occurs from the time of the ionization in that combat phase to the next turn's planning phase. That was a bit of an oversight IMHO but the game is awesome!