Out of the Mechanist League's workshops and onto the battlefield rolls a heavy artillery specialist riding his own cannon like a steed. He bombards, he scatters, he calls in air support.
Somehow all while perched on top of the same cannon he's firing.
His name: The Cannoneer.
The Cannoneer slots into the Mechanist League. A faction that's already deep with strong heroes like Artificer, Sentry Specialist, and Clockwork Mage. He'll be more of a buff to those heroes than a direct value himself.
So, with that foreshadowing, let's load the cannon and figure out exactly how this guy fits into your roster, or shelf.
| 10 | +10% Area of Effect |
|---|---|
| 20 | +1 Projectile(s) |
| 30 | +10% Area of Effect |
| 40 | BOMBASTIC: Every 15s, Cannoneer spawns a collectible bomb. Once collected, Cannoneer's next attack will shoot double the amount of projectiles. |
| 50 | All Heroes: +12.5% Physical Damage |
| 60 | +Physical Damage |
| 70 | All Heroes: +Damage |
| 80 | AIR SUPPORT: Every 3s, Cannoneer calls for air support, shooting out a massive bomb at a random target dealing 480-5000% damage. |
| 90 | All Heroes that share Faction: +Area of Effect |
| 100 | SHORT FUSE: Every kill fills a meter. Once full, the Cannoneer starts spinning, unleashing a barrage of cannonballs upon enemies. |
| 120 | All Heroes: +Physical Damage |
| 140 | Strong Stat Bonus: +3 Projectile(s) |
| 160 | All Heroes: +100% Damage |
Cannoneer's base kit is solid with area of effect, +1 projectile, more area of effect, and a movement speed bump.
The 140 stat bonus is +3 projectiles, which late in the game is roughly a 15-20% damage increase depending on your existing projectile count. That's a strong endgame stat bonus and one of the reasons the Cannoneer gets stronger at higher star levels.
The faction bonus he provides is +physical damage, which is fine but a little underwhelming compared to something like Echo's +crit.
The Cannoneer's globals are mid. Below average to mid, honestly. Let's run through them:
If you're hunting heroes purely for global value, this isn't the prize pull. The shelf-hero verdict on the Cannoneer is "fine, not great".
This is where the Cannoneer could potentially earn his keep. The forge is built around boosting skills directly, and several of the upgrades are strong. The level-2 fork in particular has me re-evaluating where I'd slot this hero on the tier list.
Level 1: Both options are reworks of Bombastic. Condensed Blast — instead of doubling projectiles, Bombastic shoots a single explosion with +100% area. Loaded Rounds — Bombastic affects the next 4 base attacks instead of just one. Loaded Rounds is the bigger unlock, especially for boss brawl: quadrupling a 100%-projectile-damage buff window is roughly a guaranteed sustained damage amp on a stationary boss target. Condensed Blast is the cleaner pick if you're clearing spread-out hordes in normal/hard mode.
Level 2: Both options modify Air Support. Barrage — drops 2 additional bombs per cast (so three bombs per 3 seconds instead of one). Quick Reload — cooldown decreases by 2 seconds, dropping it from every 3 seconds to every 1 second. The math on these is similar in raw damage, but Quick Reload feels much smoother in practice — bombs falling constantly is more useful than three bombs in one big pulse, especially for sustained boss-brawl pressure.
Level 4 (Scatter Bombs): The weapon evolves and explosions split into multiple splinters that spread outward. Evolves off Damage Tome, which is core in every build, so getting here is easy. This is where his AoE coverage really opens up.
Level 5: Two flavors of cannonball behavior. The first variant has cannonballs slow enemies with each hit before detonating. The second variant — Rebound — has cannonballs chain between enemies instead of traveling in a straight line, with every three hits triggering Scatter Bombs. Rebound has the higher ceiling in tightly packed hordes (arena, normal mode). The slow variant is safer for boss brawl and consistent damage. Test both.
The forge converts the Cannoneer from a "fine shelf hero" into a mid-range adventure hero. The level-1 Loaded Rounds pick is the unlock that makes him interesting for boss brawl in particular, and the level-5 fork is a meaningful choice.
The Cannoneer has three skills, and all three are damage. There's no shielding here and no utility. That means he's not your Nightmare Mode or Dragon's Tower carry.
Every 15 seconds, the Cannoneer spawns a collectible bomb. Once collected, his next attack shoots double the amount of projectiles. The really nice piece here is that star levels reduce the cooldown at five stars it drops from 15 seconds to roughly 9 seconds, which is a 33%+ damage uptime increase.
Every 3 seconds, the Cannoneer calls for air support, dropping a massive bomb on a random target. Adventure scaling here is dramatic. Damage at four star levels is roughly 10x the damage at one star level.
Kills fill a meter. When full, the Cannoneer starts spinning, unleashing a barrage of cannonballs. Mechanically this is essentially the same as Pirate Queen's Crimson Wheel, but with much higher scaling — 480% at one star ramping up to 5,000% at four stars. The newer adventure heroes get massively rewarded for star investment.
One thing to flag from try-mode testing: while Short Fuse is active, Bombastic appears to pause. The collectible bombs stack up on the ground but don't get consumed until the spin ends. That's a small but real damage nerf during the ultimate window. Worth knowing for boss brawl pacing.
Watching the Cannoneer in try mode, the read is genuinely fun. He auto-aims, the cannonballs bounce off the screen edges, the air strikes drop, the spinning ultimate covers the field. Visually he's actually riding the cannon the whole time, which gives him a kind of Rocket Pilot energy.
From a tier perspective, the Cannoneer is a standard B-tier adventure hero. Globals don't move the needle, but the kit holds up across normal mode, hard mode, faction wars (he plowed through Faction Wars 40 at level 1 with no skills in testing), and the forge gives him real boss-brawl upside. He's not a nightmare-mode or Dragon's Tower carry. With no shielding and no utility, he's a pure glass cannon, if you will.
If you pull the Cannoneer, he's more of a shelf piece, unless you're early in the game. Push him to four-star levels, get the level-2 forge upgrade locked in, and he'll get you through normal mode.
May 6, 2026: Fixed typos. Updates to recommended forge and tier rankings.
