Cannons are the first weapons you use in the game. They are generally well balanced, offering good firepower with short reload times and low/medium power consumption.

• BASILISK Cannon
  MK I - $300 - (80 HP 2 PWR 4 AMMO 12 DMG)
  MK II - $650 (+$350 from MK I) - Same as above, faster reload
  MK III - $1100 - Same as above, even faster reload
  [Doubleshot - 5 AMMO]
  [Flashbang - 8 AMMO, 9 seconds stun]
  [1 Structure DMG per shell] [0 for Flashbang]
  
  Takes the least amount of time to reload out of all weapons. While they may look relatively weak compared to other weapons, they offer great utility in that they can chip down rooms, bait flak turrets , and disrupt enemy infantry from repairing rooms with flashbangs or doubleshot. All of this is given for a very low price as well as low ammo and power consumption. Do be careful, as they are the most fragile weapon and are easily taken out by a well timed volley or by a high-damage explosive. As such, they are great cheap support weapons.
  
  Almost always more efficient using Double Shot mode, unless doing so put you into low ammo. Also, become much more powerful when BASILISK and/or HYDRA are deployed in large numbers, as the sheer number of shells overwhelm enemy active defenses and kinetic shield. The perk "Lex Storm" amplifies this advantage.
  
  
• HYDRA Assault Cannon
  MK I - $400 - (90 HP 3 PWR 6 AMMO 9 DMG)
  MK II - $800 - Same as above, faster reload
  MK III - $1200 - Same as above, even faster reload
  [9/10/12 Round Volley - 7 AMMO]
  [1 Structure DMG per shell]
  
  These greatly improve upon the BASILISK's capabilities of chipping, baiting, and disrupting at the cost of increased ammo cost. 6/9/12 Round Volley improves this even further at the greater cost of ammo consumption. If you have the ammo to spare, they can be better than the BASILISK. HYDRAs are a bit weird with structure damage; their shells may do 0 or 1 damage to enemy structure.
  
  
• ALASTOR Siege Cannon
  MK I - $600 - (100 HP 3 PWR 5 AMMO) [36 DMG 9 structure DMG]
  MK II - $1000 - (110 HP 3 PWR 5 AMMO [42 DMG 10/11 structure DMG]
  MK III - $1400 - (125 HP 3 PWR 5 AMMO) [48 DMG 12 structure DMG]
  [Incendiary Shell - 13 AMMO, regular structure DMG]
  [Neurotoxin Shell - 13 AMMO, regular structure DMG]
  [Flash Grenade - 9 AMMO, 0 structure DMG, 20 seconds stun]
  
  Things start to ramp up when these come into play. Their strength is their versatile payloads; they can fire normal, incendiary, toxin, or flashbang rounds. This makes them a powerful combo starter for anti-infantry or anti-room attacks. You could also opt for normal shells, which offer great damage for their reload and ammo consumption. Their higher HP pool lets them dish out more damage and protect rooms in the early game. They do eat up a lot of ammo when using specialized rounds, but are otherwise a very solid gun. Cannot break a fully staffed advanced kinetic shield.
  
  
• ARCHON Precision Cannon
  MK I - $800 - (100 HP 4 PWR 5 AMMO) [50 DMG 12/13 structure DMG]
  MK II - $1450 - (110 HP 4 PWR 5 AMMO) [55 DMG 14 structure DMG] -12% reload time, higher accuracy
  MK III - $2100 - (125 HP 4 PWR 5 AMMO) [60 DMG 15 structure DMG] -20% reload time, even higher accuracy
  [Concussion Grenade - 10 AMMO, 0 structure DMG, 28 seconds stun]
  
  These are sniper cannons made for surgical strikes against vital rooms hiding deep within the fortress. High damage and fast bullet speed is compensated with slow reload times with medium ammo costs. The shells are so fast that they ignore Laser and Autocannon defenses and can even squeeze through Flak if you time it right. Got a juicy target of multiple infantry in one room? Send a flashbang, which will most likely get them with its incredibly fast bullet speed. Need to finish off a room quickly through defences? This gun gets the job done. #1 Best target: Nuclear Reactor. Other good targets include Active Defense Control, Scrambler, Infiltration, and any infantry with HP in the red. Can be used to break a Kinetic Shield in a pinch, but the window offered to follow up with other guns is small.
  Enemy ARCHONs are the highest priority targets out of all weapons. If the enemy deploys ARCHONs, focus fire them down ASAP as it only takes three shots to destroy your Nuclear Reactor or Active Defense. You are safer if the enemy only has two ARCHONs.
  
  
• TYPHON Heavy Cannon
  MK I - $1500 - (250 HP 5 PWR 9 AMMO) [80 DMG 20 structure DMG]
  MK II - $2400 - (275 HP 5 PWR 9 AMMO) [90 DMG 22/23 structure DMG] +5% accuracy
  MK III - $3300 - (300 HP 5 PWR 9 AMMO) [100 DMG 25 structure DMG) +5% accuracy
  [Incendiary Heavy Shell - 14 AMMO, regular structure DMG]
  [Neurotoxin Heavy Shell - 14 AMMO, regular structure DMG]
  
  These bad boys mean business. High HP, high damage, and fast reload times makes these guns intimidating, especially for the first time encountering them. This is the first 2-room gun. This power is compensated with their higher ammo costs, but is nevertheless very threatening. MK I instantly destroys BASILISKs while MK II instantly destroys HYDRAs. MK III can one-shot a MK I TALOS as well as a MK II SOLARIS and beefier rooms will become easy to finish off with other weapons. Also kills enemy soldiers with ~40% health. Higher damage also means that the fires made by incendiary shells start off stronger and harder to put out. Can be used to break a Kinetic Shield, with a long window of opportunity to follow up with volleys. Shell speed is the second fastest of all cannons , making them good at either breaking a kinetic shield before mortars land, or squeezing through a freshly made opening in the enemy shield.
  If your enemy brings TYPHONs, bring either shields, Flaks, EMPs or Scrambler. It's generally a good idea to focus fire them down early in the stage, but not as high priority as 3+ ARCHONs.
  
  
• OMEGA Capital Destroyer
  OMEGA - $3000 - (800 HP 10 PWR 14 AMMO) [200 DMG 50 structure DMG]
  Type X - $5000 - (880 HP 10 PWR 14 AMMO) [220 DMG 55 structure DMG] -4% faster reload
  Type Z - $7000 - (1000 HP 10 PWR 14 AMMO) [240 DMG 60 structure DMG] -8% faster reload
  [Incendiary Super Heavy Shell - 24 AMMO, regular structure DMG]
  [Neurotoxin Super Heavy Shell- 24 AMMO, regular structure DMG]
  
  The awe-inspiring supergun. It is unique in that it takes up 4 rooms to house it. Absurd damage and HP is countered by its high reload, ammo, and power costs. It can one-shot majority of enemy rooms, and deals huge amount of damage to enemy soldiers in the room. Enemy soldiers in adjacent rooms are also stunned for a short duration (shorter than effect of NYX ICBM). On top of that, incendiary or neurotoxin materials spread to any rooms adjacent to the target room, majorly disrupting enemy fortress or easily killing enemy infantry. A fully staffed OMEGA TYPE-Z can land a shot before an unstaffed MK II Scrambler can scramble.
  Unlike the TYPHON, an OMEGA is almost impossible to focus fire down so you are better off destroying other weapons first. The best defense against enemy OMEGA is the scrambler. Kinetic shield and Flak also work, but know that the super heavy shell needs to align perfectly with the flak turret in order to destroy it in one volley, and a shield that just took an OMEGA bullet will be vulnerable for a long time.

Mortars focus on damage and anti-personnel abilities. Their higher damage comes at a higher ammo cost than most cannons. Since they fire their bombs in an arc, you can distract defense turrets with either bullets or shells first since they have different flight paths. Due to this nature, mortars can target exposed deep rooms at the back of the fortress with higher accuracy than cannons, but they can also be inflicted with reduced accuracy due to some fortresses being situated in caves or using camouflage.

As bombs do increased structural damage compared to shells, opponent fortress tends to fall apart prematurely, denying you a Takeover or Annihilation victory if you're not careful. Remember, shredder bombs still do decent damage to rooms but don't damage structural integrity. Switch to shredder bombs once the enemy fortress no longer threatens yours so that it doesn't fall apart giving you an Attrition victory.

• TALOS Siege Mortar
  MK I - $400 - (100 HP 3 PWR 8 AMMO) [28 DMG 14 structure DMG]
  [Shredder Bomb - 10 AMMO 17 DMG 56 personnel DMG 0 structure DMG]
  [Flash Bomb - 12 AMMO 0 structure DMG, stuns for 12 seconds]
  MK II - $800 - (110HP 3 PWR 8 AMMO) [35 DMG 17-18 structure DMG]
  [Shredder Bomb - 10 AMMO ? DMG ? personnel DMG 0 structure DMG]
  [Flash Bomb - 12 AMMO 0 structure DMG, stuns for 12 seconds]
  
  This will be your weapon capable of quickly disposing enemy soldiers. Killing all enemy personnel in a level awards you more XP, which lets you level up faster - to the point where you can unlock certain guns and utilities before the enemy can introduce it! Early game-wise, these deal the most damage until the ALASTOR cannon comes in. Useful for focusing down a target or infantry. Flash Bombing enemies and then trying to shred them with the same mortar almost never works, since there's a small window of time where the soldier snaps out of it before it can get shredded.
  
  
• TARTARUS Heavy Mortar
  MK I - $900 - (150 HP 4 PWR 8 AMMO) [60 DMG 30 structure DMG)
  MK II - $1800 - (175HP 4 PWR 8 AMMO) [70 DMG 35 structure DMG)
  [Shredder Heavy Bomb - 12 AMMO, 0 structure DMG]
  [Incendiary Heavy Bomb- 15 AMMO, regular structure DMG]
  
  By the time you unlock the TALOS MK II, you'll also unlock the TARTARUS. It's generally better to replace your TALOS mortars with TARTARUS mortars since these boast significantly higher damage, damaging abilities, and ability to tank a lot of incoming fire. They can also gain more accuracy since they can have 2 operators stationed, giving it an extra 10% aim, along with faster reload times. Whenever these bombs hit, they stun any infantry in the target room for a second, which gives enough time to follow up with any other anti-personnel tactics if timed correctly. Their Shredder bombs also deal more damage, enough to kill a soldier at roughly 80% HP. Incendiary bombs also start out with stronger fires, making it hard to put out. Can be used to break Kinetic Shields, giving a moderate amount of time to follow up. Enemy AI tends to Scramble these bombs first, unless you have bigger guns already prepared to fire. An all-around great weapon, but be mindful of their ammo costs.
  
  Combos well with ALASTOR siege cannon. TARTARUS with 1 operator reloads just slightly faster than an unmanned ALASTOR. Two easily dropped "bombardment" perks can boost MK II TARTARUS to 79 DMG. When combined with an ALASTOR shell (48 DMG) can bring down most enemy small weapons with 125 HP.

Missiles are quite different in that they always have 100% accuracy, use very little power, and pass through Kinetic Shields, but are offset with their long reload times, very high ammo costs, slow projectile speed, and vulnerability to defense turrets as well as Scrambler. If you plan to use missiles, you'll need to heavily distract any defense turrets or take out any Scramblers. Damaging Active Defense Control rooms are enough, as without them turrets have decreased firepower and/or fire rate.

Wanna just ignore enemy ICBMs? Use 1 autocannon at the top of your fortress, and 2 laser defenses elsewhere. As long as your Active Defense Control is manned, NO ICBM can get through. This setup also denies most if not all smaller missiles.
Note that 3 laser defenses CANNOT shoot down an ICBM , even when Active Defense is fully manned. This applies to both your ICBM and the enemy's.

• PYTHON Missiles
  MK I - $600 - (100 HP 2 PWR 11 AMMO 50 DMG)
  MK II - +$450 - (110 HP 2 PWR 10 AMMO 58 DMG) [faster reload, more powerful]
  MK III - +$450 - (125 HP 2 PWR 9 AMMO 66 DMG) [fastest reload, most powerful]
  [0 Structure DMG]
  
  Boasting high damage in the early game, they essentially force you to use an Active Defense Control room to stop them from wreaking havoc on your fort. Best fired right after a coordinated volley so that defense turrets don't shoot it down immediately.
  
  
• VIPER Fire Missiles
  MK I - $800 - (100 HP 3 PWR 15 AMMO) [maximum fire strength]
  MK II - +$550 - (110 HP 3 PWR14 AMMO) [faster reload]
  MK III - +$550 - (125 HP 3 PWR 13 AMMO) [fastest reload]
  [0 Structure DMG]
  
  These missiles trade firepower and ammo costs for a deadly payload that lasts for 30 seconds at the target room. Although its actual firepower stat is not listed, it does anywhere from 12-30 damage on top of making the target room inoperable. Its strong fire when unleashed requires at least 2 soldiers to put it out safely, and does about 50% accumulated damage to said soldiers when the fire is finally put out.
  
  
• TAIPAN Toxin Missiles
  MK I - $800 - (100 HP 3 PWR 15 AMMO) [lethal gas for 30 seconds]
  MK II - +$550 - (110 HP 3 PWR14 AMMO) [faster reload]
  MK III - +$550 - (125 HP 3 PWR 13 AMMO) [fastest reload]
  [0 Structure DMG]
  
  Just like that VIPER missiles, these also trade firepower and ammo costs for a specialized payload. Likewise, it does anywhere from 12-30 damage to the target even though it's not actually listed as a stat. The difference with toxin and fire is that soldiers cannot do anything when in toxin. Even with the extremely rare Microfiltration perk, soldiers will just stand there and do nothing. This means that if a room is filled with toxin, it is ripe for unhindered destruction.
  
  
• CHARON Impact-Landing ICBM
  CHARON - $1500 - (250 HP 6 PWR 19 AMMO) [100 DMG, 50 structure DMG, stun 9-15 sec]
  Type X - $1000 - (275 HP 6 PWR 17 AMMO) [100 DMG, 50 structure DMG, stun 12-20 sec]
  
  This ICBM offers a different way to invade fortress via overhead crash-landing. When fired, up to 2 soldiers in the same room will AUTOMATICALLY board it. On crash landing, enemy soldiers will be stunned for 15/20 (target room) or 9/12 (all adjacent rooms) seconds, allowing your soldiers to quickly neutralize them. This is safer than using a blimp since it can take much more punishment before being shot down, and can stun nearby enemy soldiers, but trades safety for less invading troops, increased ammo costs, and vulnerability to Scrambler. Besides that, the ICBM also does 100 damage to the target room, and minor damage to adjacent rooms.
  
  If you use my defense setup, I suggest ignoring enemy CHARON, ON PURPOSE. And then watch enemy soldiers fly to their death.
  
  
  
• NYX Neurotoxin ICBM
  NYX - $2000 - (250 HP 6 PWR 22 AMMO) [40 structure DMG, gas for 32-60 seconds]
  Type X - $1000 - (275 HP 6 PWR 20 AMMO) [40 structure DMG, gas for 40-64 seconds]
  
  Similar to CHARON's impact affecting adjacent rooms from the target, this ICBM dumps neurotoxin in the enemy fortress, seeping through doors into neighboring rooms. Up to half the enemy fortress can become lethal, for 60/64 (target room) and 32/40 (all adjacent rooms). It also stuns enemy soldiers in all adjacent rooms for a short duration of time. The great thing about this is that the AI does not take into account of neighboring zones when defending against it. This lets you kill many enemy soldiers at once (especially with the Death Cloud perk), effectively winning the battle since they will most likely not have any soldiers left to repair or man the guns. Of course, you must take into consideration the ammo costs as well as the housing for this monstrosity. Prepares slower than CHARON, but faster than NEMESIS.
  
  This is the only practical ICBM I would use. If the enemy has it, defend it using the setup provided above.
  
  
• NEMESIS Tactical Nuke ICBM
  NEMESIS - $3000 - (250 HP 7 PWR 24 AMMO) [300 DMG 150* structure DMG, high splash DMG, start fires in target and all adjacent rooms]
  Type X - $2000 - (275 HP 7 PWR 22 AMMO) [320 DMG 160* structure DMG, stronger fires]
  *structure DMG by the explosion itself, but don't forget structural damage from rooms being destroyed as several rooms can be destroyed by a single nuke.
  ** Explosion from nuclear reactor meltdown does 300 structure DMG first time. Further meltdowns don't do more structure DMG.
  
  Nuking is fun. Impractical, but fun. Destroys every room (except the OMEGA) and most adjacent rooms. Kills soldiers in the target rooms and heavily injuring those in all adjacent rooms. Staggering ammo costs and extremely long reload times is what makes this impractical, but the fireworks that go off when it does land is extremely satisfying.
  
  If the enemy has it, defend it using the setup provided above. Also, consider using scrambler and return nuke to sender! Save yourself the credits of buying Nemesis at all!

These are the opposites of missiles; they consume lots of power but very little ammo, while also offering unique advantages in a battle.

• ORION EMP Blaster
  MK I - $700 - (100 HP 6 PWR 2 AMMO)
  MK II - $700 - (110 HP 6 PWR 2 AMMO)
  [0 Structure DMG]
  
  EMP Blasters can potentially give you a high advantage by completely shutting down enemy rooms - even big weapons like NEMESIS or the OMEGA can be shut down, buying you lots of time to take it down. The problem is that if the enemy fortress has a surplus of energy, you'll need to neutralize that before you can start shutting down rooms. As such, it may take several EMP blasts before you can actually shut down the target. For this reason I recommend having a soldier stationed at this weapon since the reload buff it gets lets it slowly drain the enemy's power by itself. If you notice your enemy has no power to spare at the beginning of a battle, consider taking this if you're low on cash. ORION MK II gets a good buff since its EMP projectiles now deal much more damage to infantry - about 30% HP, and deals 2x damage to Kinetic Shields.
  
  
• HYPERION EMP Blaster
  MK I - $1200 - (220 HP 10 PWR 4 AMMO)
  MK II - $1200 - (260 HP 10 PWR 4 AMMO)
  [0 Structure DMG]
  
  It functions mostly like its smaller counterpart, with differences in that HYPERION takes up 2 rooms, drains 6 power instead of 3, and can fire ridiculously fast (10 seconds!) with 2 operators stationed. The insane ability to rapidly drain extra fortress power within a couple of minutes is offset by it taking up 33% more power than its predecessor. You can even shut down 2 different rooms by alternating between them once there is no extra power remaining. MK II deals ~40% HP to infantry and deals 2x damage to Shields, making this a very powerful weapon if you have the room and power for it.
  
  
• SOLARIS Heat Ray
  MK I - $700 - (100 HP 6 PWR 2 AMMO 24 DMG)
  MK II - $400 - (100 HP 5 PWR 2 AMMO 26 DMG)
  MK III - $400 - (110 HP 5 PWR 2 AMMO 30 DMG)
  [0 Structure DMG]
  
  An alternative to the BASILISK in terms of disruptive potential, the SOLARIS always fires at 100% accuracy while also highly discouraging enemy infantry from repairing the targeted room. While it has similar damage to the BASILISK, it also comes with the added bonus of a 25% to light the room on fire. It's worth considering if your fortress layout has little ammo to spare. 100% accurate, passes through kinetic shield, and cannot be stopped by any defenses. If you find your important rooms under attack by these and don't want them to be destroyed, you can send soldiers to repair the damage in a pinch - it takes 2 soldiers to offset the damage of a SOLARIS when firing.
  
  An active defense control cannot be manned while it's being fried due to the continuous damage, decreasing efficiency of all defense turrets. Similarly, kinetic shield cannot be recharged while being fried, making the window of opportunity bigger.
  
  
• SIRIUS Scorcher Beam
  MK I - $1200 - (220 HP 10 PWR 3 AMMO 72 DMG), 75% chance to light room on fire
  MK II - $700 - (240 HP 9 PWR 3 AMMO 76 DMG), 80% chance to light room on fire
  MK III - $700 - (260 HP 8 PWR 3 AMMO 81 DMG), 85% chance to light room on fire
  [0 Structure DMG]
  
  It acts exactly like the SOLARIS, but also improves on its abilities; it fires for longer, resulting in more damage and severely discourages enemy infantry from staying in the targeted room. Comes with a significantly higher chance to ignite a fire (75% instead of 25%). On top of that, the beam is also highly damaging to soldiers. Its drawbacks are that it consumes 50% more power and normally has a mediocre reload time, which can be remedied into a fast reload time with 2 operators. Excellent for disrupting Active Defense Control rooms or Kinetic Shields. If you have an important room under attack by a SIRIUS and need to keep it operational, 2 soldiers won't be enough to offset the damage - you'll need at least 3 soldiers, but that's only possible if the targeted room takes up at least 2 rooms.
  
  Two SIRIUS MK III can easily cause a nuclear reactor meltdown. Use it to your advantage.

This is a list of what bonuses a specific weapon gets when fully staffed or partially staffed by operators.

FORMAT

WEAPON: 1 OPERATOR BUFF; 2 OPERATORS BUFF; 3 OPERATORS BUFF; 4 OPERATORS BUFF

• BASILISK: +10% aim
  
  
• HYDRA: +10% aim
  
  
• ALASTOR: -40% reload time
  
  
• ARCHON: -40% reload time, +5% aim
  
  
• TYPHON: +5% aim, -16% reload time; +10% aim, -33% reload time
  
  
• OMEGA: -9.5% reload time; -19% reload time; -28.5% reload time; -38% reload time
  Type X: -10.5% reload time; -21% reload time; -31.5% reload time; -42% reload time
  Type Z: -12.5% reload time; -25% reload time; -37.5% reload time; -50% reload time
  
  
• TALOS: +5% aim, -25% reload time
  
  
• TARTARUS: +5% aim, -16% reload time; +10% aim, -33% reload time
  
  
• PYTHON: -40% reload time
  
  
• TAIPAN: -40% reload time
  
  
• VIPER: -40% reload time
  
  
• CHARON: -18% reload time; -36% reload time
  
  
• NYX: -18% reload time; -36% reload time
  
  
• NEMESIS: -18% reload time; -36% reload time
  
  
• ORION: +5% aim, -38% reload time
  
  
• HYPERION: +5% aim, -30% reload time; +10% aim, -61% reload time
  
  
• SIRIUS: -25% reload time; -50% reload time
  
  
• SOLARIS: -33% reload time

Thanks for reading my first guide! I will try to update this guide with any new info regarding hidden stats, but it may take a while since they require some testing to confirm. Feel free to add anymore hidden information in the comments.

Knowledge is power. Good luck, Commander!