The Beam Cannon is Nod’s tier 3 artillery unit that costs 1000 credits. A single Beam Cannon is relatively useless, but as their numbers increase, their damage increases exponentially by a power of 2.
So the first Beam Cannon does 150 DPS (damage per second), the second Beam Cannon does 300 DPS, the third does 600, the fourth 1200, etc... (the Beam Cannon's damage must be measured in DPS, because it has a continuous attack).
This is why it is critical to maintain your numbers with Beam Cannons. Beam Cannons do grenade damage, meaning they deal 100% damage to buildings, 75% damage to infantry, but only 25% damage to vehicles; meaning you will need more Beam Cannons to bring down vehicles than for buildings. Six is good if you are using them as a base killer, it is ideal, because it can kill buildings in a few seconds, but if you are using them to counter tier 3 units, you should try to have about 10.
The Beam Cannon has three special abilities: the Venom Reflector Beam, charge Obelisk, and call for transport.
The Reflector Beam is the most useful ability the Beam Cannon has. This ability allows the Beam Cannon to extend its range by reflecting its laser from a Venom onto its target. This ability also works with multiple Venoms, allowing you to chain the laser across a line of Venoms, giving the Beam Cannon potentially unlimited range.
Using this ability, you can shoot over impassible obstacles such as water and mountains, and can keep your Beam Cannons safe while taking out enemy buildings/units in your enemy’s base. This is also very useful for shielding your Beam Cannons with buildings or keeping them out of range, behind stronger units; but another very useful aspect of this ability is that it can be used on enemy aircraft; this makes it a very effective way to bring down those Scrin tier 3 and 4 aircraft, as well as the Mothership or a flying Drone Ship.
