Turrets: What do you think of them?

[TheSilverHammer]

I have some general questions for the community about turrets.   

1. What turrets do you like?  Why?
2. What turrets do you dislike?  Why?
3. What are your must have turrets?  What are your 'nice to have' turrets? IE: The ones you always get vs the ones you would like to get, but do not necessarily always get.
4. Do you have special case turrets? For example, a turret you do not normally get, but under certain circumstances they become a Must Have.

[NickAragua]

These comments are valid as of the last official release.

1. Apparently, I like Lightning turrets, considering that they absolutely murder any non-starship fleets that I send against them. I haven't used them myself, but based on their effectiveness for the AI, I can't imagine my Lightning turrets doing worse.

2. You can never have enough defenses, so I don't "dislike" any turrets. That being said, I tend to think of sniper turrets as kind of useless and only build them if I have nothing else to spend resources on. Their incredibly low damage makes it so that you have to build a large number of them to equal the firepower of a single basic turret.

3. Tractor turrets are a must, otherwise you will have large numbers of regular ships running around your systems making a mess.

4. Gravity turrets. The ones that slow enemy ships down. They're not useful in the general case, but when you have large groups of tractor-immune ships dropping in and running all around your systems, these help keep the bad guys pinned down a little longer so my turrets can shoot at them a little more.

[Spikey00]

Spam basic/MRLS until needed to upgrade in tier.

[Lancefighter]

I always unlock laser and missile turrets, as my 'standard defense' consists of 10 each basic/mlrs/laser/missile turret at a wormhole or command station.
That said, however, I cant remember the last time i built sniper turrets, and i dont think I have ever unlocked spiders..

Grav turrets I've used now and again if the AI is a raider/tractor immune lover.. but less and less nowadays am i using tractors (i used to also unlock mk2 tractors at game start)

I typically dont unlock mk2 turrets until the AI hits mk2 raids, and even then I prefer to knock the AI back to mk1 raids instead 

[Thasero]

I use turrets for the majority of my defense, with low-mark mobile ships hanging around hub systems to reach breaks.

I usually open tractor turrets mk III first thing in a game and build them immediately, unless it's a grid-style map or other start where there are too many wormholes for tractors to be practical.

Missile turrets (for shooting bombers) and laser turrets (good against most ships that can dodge tractor turrets and/or ignore forcefields) are ones I always get.  Once I've run through the mk I turrets and need more raw power, I open up higher-mark basic turrets and/or MRLS.

Sniper turrets aren't worthwhile unless the AI has infiltrators as a bonus ship.  Infiltrators murder all turrets and shoot through force fields, making them extremely bad news for my normal defensive strategy.  Sniper turrets have a large enough bonus to kill infiltrators pretty quickly.  Lightning turrets also usually aren't worth it for the player - they're great for the AI because humans will bring a large fleet and have to clear out every guard post, wormhole, etc. in a system in order to take it.  If the AI attacks with a large enough fleet to make lightning turrets really justified, then they'll probably just roll past your lightning turrets, shoot your command station, and leave.

My "situational" turret would probably be spider turrets - I tend to either build enough tractor turrets to stop 100% of a wave or give up on tractors entirely and build fortresses instead.  But spider turrets are great for times when you can't maintain an effective front line and your territory is too stretched-out for mobile ships and fortresses to cover all the locations.  Just sprinkle 10 or 15 spider turrets in every system and let them chip away at enemy attacks by stranding targets everywhere.

I've never unlocked grav turrets - too expensive and situational.  Likewise, the counter-dark matter and counter-sniper/missile turrets aren't worth the trouble; if I'm that hassled by Astro Trains I just turn them off in the game options, and problems with snipers/missile-launchers are best solved by having your turrets and ships blow up their snipers/missile-launchers, not by trying to crowd your stuff under the tiny defensive radius of a specialized turret.

[Velox]

     Turrets ARE my fleet.  Starships are for blowing guard posts and command stations, and fleet vessels are for ... well, temporary turret backup when the starships get too trigger-happy.

     Some thoughts:

     - I'm with Thasero on the tractor turrets - higher marks right away, II at least.  Can't beat the improved range and lower energy-per-grab.
     - Missile turrets suck.  Also, they're necessary for dealing with bombers so I usually get them quickly and build lots.
     - I've never bothered with grav turrets either: laser turrets in quantity with good placement have usually taken care of anything small and annoying that's able to skip out on the tractor fun.
     - Anti-missile turrets are awesome.  Plunk one into a turret array at about 50% MLRS range from a wormhole and you neutralize almost every threat that has the capability to hit reliably at that range.

[RCIX]

My favorite is MLRS because they seem to have the best hitting power of all available turrets.

[Saan]

I would somewhat agree that sniper turrets seem a bit underpowered for their cost. Though, spider turrets are absolutely NOT.  They have their own niche, and are great for attack and defense. 

 It seems like sniper turrets are good where there are already spider turrets present, for some extra DPS at less cost, but by themselves, they are a bit underwhelming. 

If using them to beachhead, they can be somewhat handy, but for the same resources you can do a lot.

If using them for defense, it seems that tractor turrets fill the same niche (cleaning up stragglers) but a whole lot better.

As far as what turrets i use - mark 3 basics are powerful, cheap, and versatile. Great choice for early on when you arent quite sure what you'll be facing.

Besides that, i find myself using a lot of lasers and, on occasion, missiles.

[Ozymandiaz]

Spam basic/MRLS until needed to upgrade in tier.

I do the same.

After that I invest some knowledge in lasers and missiles to have a bit of diversity.

I really only make turrets as home defence, but late game I might invest more knowledge in them to get more and better defences while my fleet if rampaging  elsewhere .

[Ruges]

Spam basic/MRLS until needed to upgrade in tier.

This is usualy how I start. The starting turrets are more then enough to deal with the AI at the start of the game. Even as you progress into mk2 AI units.

Turrets ARE my fleet.

Defenatly, Turrets usualy end up having the highest KD on my list. They are just brutal I hated to see the dmg booster bonus removed from them.

you just need to position them where the AI will be. if your goind down a path of AI planets put em close to the worm hole in your planet that leads to the AI. So when they warp in they get spanked. Later on in the game when the AI starts sending thousands of units in single waves is when Lighting turrets really pay off. A full stack of lighting turrets can easily wipe out an incoming wave of several thousand. And if not utterly destroying them, it will damage them to the point where your other turrets can finishes them off. My lighting turrets usualy never get more them 4 shots off before the incoming wave has been destroyed.

[Fox Soul]

I have some general questions for the community about turrets.   

1. What turrets do you like?  Why?
2. What turrets do you dislike?  Why?
3. What are your must have turrets?  What are your 'nice to have' turrets? IE: The ones you always get vs the ones you would like to get, but do not necessarily always get.
4. Do you have special case turrets? For example, a turret you do not normally get, but under certain circumstances they become a Must Have.

1. I like pretty much all of them, just like in our real life military everything has a purpose. The Army, The Airforce, The Marines, ect...
Turrets, ships and starships are of no exception and too be a successful Warlord, Strategist or Leader you must always use your resources too there fullest.
Too me the Turrets are all equal in some form or another and one can not be replace or dismissed.

2. The counters, I can imagine they are useful but so far all my forces always survive with minimum losses. Too me Counters are a waste of resources and energy so I never bothered even trying them.

3. My must have are the Tycheon Turrets which reveal cloakers, Tractors too stall certain ships, basic and missile turrets to do the damage.
Lighting and Gravity turrets are both my nice too have but not necessary turrets. Lightings eat a lot of energy but are very useful at handling a large weak force by themselves, they usually solo protect advanced factories or important specials. Gravity turrets are placed too slow Planes, Raiders and other fast AI ships by forcing them too move at a set speed, just like the tractors they are just too stall.

4. Hmm, this last question is a bit difficult for me since I use all the turrets equally. But I do have too say awhile back I never used Missile turrets, the thought of 1 missile compared too a MRLS seemed unimportant until the AI sent a force of nothing but bombers. I went through the stats on my turrets and found pretty much none of them are strong against bombers so I had too experiment with new turrets. Missile turrets were the best choice and proved there worth by helping me beat back the bombers, I've used them ever since now.

[RCIX]

I have some general questions for the community about turrets.   

1. What turrets do you like?  Why?
2. What turrets do you dislike?  Why?
3. What are your must have turrets?  What are your 'nice to have' turrets? IE: The ones you always get vs the ones you would like to get, but do not necessarily always get.
4. Do you have special case turrets? For example, a turret you do not normally get, but under certain circumstances they become a Must Have.

1. I like pretty much all of them, just like in our real life military everything has a purpose. The Army, The Airforce, The Marines, ect...
Turrets, ships and starships are of no exception and too be a successful Warlord, Strategist or Leader you must always use your resources too there fullest.
Too me the Turrets are all equal in some form or another and one can not be replace or dismissed.

2. The counters, I can imagine they are useful but so far all my forces always survive with minimum losses. Too me Counters are a waste of resources and energy so I never bothered even trying them.

3. My must have are the Tycheon Turrets which reveal cloakers, Tractors too stall certain ships, basic and missile turrets to do the damage.
Lighting and Gravity turrets are both my nice too have but not necessary turrets. Lightings eat a lot of energy but are very useful at handling a large weak force by themselves, they usually solo protect advanced factories or important specials. Gravity turrets are placed too slow Planes, Raiders and other fast AI ships by forcing them too move at a set speed, just like the tractors they are just too stall.

4. Hmm, this last question is a bit difficult for me since I use all the turrets equally. But I do have too say awhile back I never used Missile turrets, the thought of 1 missile compared too a MRLS seemed unimportant until the AI sent a force of nothing but bombers. I went through the stats on my turrets and found pretty much none of them are strong against bombers so I had too experiment with new turrets. Missile turrets were the best choice and proved there worth by helping me beat back the bombers, I've used them ever since now.

Why do i have the sneaking suspicion you don't set up beachheads nor play with astro trains?

[Fox Soul]

Why do i have the sneaking suspicion you don't set up beachheads nor play with astro trains?

I play with astro trains once in awhile, I'm just careful not too get in the way such as starting in a corner.
Once in awhile I set up a beachhead but it usually is in a planet that is uncontrolled. A sort of buffer for my closest planet before I take out the command station in the next planet.
Those beachhead zones of mine usually contain lighting turrets, grav turrets, plenty of mines (usually 1/4-1/2 of my mine cap) and about 5-10 remain rebuilders.

[vonduus]

I build turret balls, five basic, five MLRS, five missiles, five lasers and one or two lightning turrets. Later in the game i reinforce them with mk. II turrets.

It is difficult to say which of these turrets is best. To me it is the combination that does it.

If I were only allowed to have one kind of turret, it would certainly be the tractor beam. If only two were allowed, I would choose this and the spider turret. If three, I would probably add the MLRS, it hits pretty hard when it hits.

[corfe83]

I love turrets. I especially love spider, missile & laser turrets.

The game wouldn't be half as much fun without them.