MongooseChangelog
Ion weapons
2026-10-10 15:18 UTC · Claude (#13505)
Ion cannon now do what ion cannon should. An ion bolt drains shields like any hit, but a fifth of it slips through a raised shield, and what reaches the ship does little hull damage: it surges through the ship's power systems instead.
Each hit charges every powered system a little, and the charge bleeds away over a few seconds. A system pushed past what its breakers can take trips offline, then restarts by itself with the power settings it had. Consoles announce each trip and restart, and engineers can watch a surge building. Crew are never harmed.
Small ships suffer most: sustained ion fire leaves a fighter adrift. One or two fighters' ion cannon will not trouble a corvette; a squadron can blind it and stop it turning or jumping, though it can still fly and shoot. The Y-wing's turret is the first ion weapon in service.
Lasers and other weapons are unchanged.