Best defense turrets against fighters?

[Ezarkal]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone ever compared the efficiency of the different defense turrets, namely against strike crafts.
Mostly, how do flak, gatling, pulse and laser turret rate against each other, within a single faction. I assume here we can observe trends across factions.

(Yeah, I know missile turrets are probably the best, but I don't feel like resupplying all the time for now.)

[Vertigo 7]

flak are really effective but they have a super short range. I really like them for defense tho I do like to mix in some pulse and bolt turrets for range. I rarely use beam turrets because of their low damage, though they are highly accurate. And of course, plasma turrets are almost worthless against fighters.

Argon turrets have the highest rotational rate (180-209 deg/s for medium turrets), and for anti-fighters, they're my go-to.

[mr.WHO]

Flaks are by far best anti-S/M weapon if you absolutely positively need to wipe all S/M ships in you airspace.
Pulse are bit less powerful, but more flexible - this one is very good against S, but slightly weaker against M ships.
Beam are ultra accurate, but rather weak (Terran beams are slightly more powerfull), they struggle even against medicore S ships.

Bolt are spectacular...visually, but absolutely bad against S ships (95% shots will miss). They are effective against M-size ships.


It's imprortant to use Argon turrets as they have highest rotation speed (essential against S/M ships).

[geldonyetich]

Missile turrets with plenty of light missiles, but of course this is an expensive option.

Larger turrets, I recommend beam. Yes, I know, beams have really bad DPS, but against highly evasive targets at long range, you’re wasting your time with projectiles unless they’re very fast. Low DPS is better than zero! Beams excel at longer range, reliable fighter elimination. What they don’t kill, they’ll draw closer. At closer ranges, large turrets turn too slowly to keep up, and that’s why you need your medium turrets to help, too.

Medium turrets, don’t bother with beams, the DPS is so low you’ll just tickle them. Take fast projectiles with decent DPS instead. Pulse or shard is a good option. I find bolt and flak too slow moving, better to save those for medium craft. The idea is that you draw the fighters close enough that their evasion isn’t sufficient to dodge the projectiles due to their high speeds.

Of course, this is vanilla balance I am talking about. Modded weapons are a whole other thing.

[chew-ie]

Medium turrets, don’t bother with beams, the DPS is so low you’ll just tickle them.

While what you said so far is true, I'd like to add that having M turrets with beams is a tactical choice. IF you have a lot of M slots on the ship (e.g. Rattlesnake, Raptor) or have a dedicated anti-fighter Behemoth a battery of M-beams helps to stall shield generation of hostile S ships.

Even the best anti fighter solutions (pulse, flak) can miss on certain vectors - but the beam does not. Beam turrets can keep a tab on hostile S ships after their attack run and deny them their rapid shield recharge.

---

RE missiles - sadly they are no real solution as the capacity is too low on every ship which is no carrier. In fights with medium duration (>= 10 minutes) you'll end up with a dead battery because of depleted ammunition. Missiles shine when used in burst attack on heavy targets (rattlesnake with 4x forward L dumpfire missile turrets is quite a surprise for a K). That being said - if you have a fleet at hand and have a dedicated missile destroyer you can send him home / to the aux ship for reload. But in such a fleet fighters are barely a problem.

[taztaz502]

I tend to use bolt, yeah they miss a lot which is why you add more.

Seem to be the only weapons that actually do reasonable damage for me even when they're missing a few shots still hit so shields etc rapidly drop and don't get the chance to recharge, plus they're longer range than most.

Flak are decent too but they have poor range and also poor accuracy, id bet my last credit bolt would hit more and do more damage at a range where flak can shoot from my experience at least, Beam lasers hit but you would be better off climbing on the hull of your ship and aiming a small handheld magnifying glass trying to reflect the sun at enemy ships you would be more effective.


Would be nice if weapons had more variation, e.g. be great if beam turrets slowed the target so the rest of your turrets could have a go at it etc.

[GCU Grey Area]

I like a combination of L Beam + M Bolt. L Beam's there primarily to suppress shield regen whenever an S or M ship is within 5 km, M Bolts are there to kill them while their shields can't regen (so even if the Bolts periodically miss they don't have to start from scratch against a fully shielded ship next time they land a hit). Combination works far better than either of the turrets can manage on their own. Also love how it looks in action:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/spjlxymslb341 ... 1.jpg?dl=0
End result a couple of minutes later:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/583zh0wou7lqc ... 1.jpg?dl=0

[ColonelBoom]

For medium turrets pulse turrets are the best against S-size fighters because of the fast velocity, combined with dpm. They are the most reliable and also good against M-size ships.
Against M-size ships i found flak or bolt to be very effective as they have good dpm and enough velocity to hit them. Flak and plasma are okay against large ships as well because of their dpm
Laser turrets are only really effective against missiles and to a far lesser degree against S-size ships because of how long it takes for S-shields to start recharging.

For large turrets pulse turrets are the best against everything. Laser turrets are only okay against S-ships and a waste against missiles. Plasma is only good against large ships and structures because of the horrible velocity but high dpm.

I would generally use pulse for M-turrets against S/M-ships, M-lasers against missiles, M-bolt or -flak against M. Plasma against L.

[geldonyetich]

Medium turrets, don’t bother with beams, the DPS is so low you’ll just tickle them.

While what you said so far is true, I'd like to add that having M turrets with beams is a tactical choice. IF you have a lot of M slots on the ship (e.g. Rattlesnake, Raptor) or have a dedicated anti-fighter Behemoth a battery of M-beams helps to stall shield generation of hostile S ships.

This is true, but I think the range on the M beams is so short that I might as well use fast projectiles because they’re going to be hitting often enough at that range to accomplish this same aim without sacrificing as much DPS.

[Ezarkal]

Thanks for the answers.
I'm asking because I'm buying my first rattlesnake of my current playthrough, and I plan it to be my only capital ship for a while, as well as my personal flagship.

In my previous run, I just had L beam and M flak for my personal flagship and it worked just great. But I want to go for a hybrid build this time.

Frontal L will be plasma, for extra firepower against big target.
Top/Bottom L will be beam
I'm trying to figure out the M turret loadout. Probably a mix of flak and pulse, from what you guys said. I may mix in some missiles in there as well.
I'll run a few tries...

...as soon as I can get back to the game. Real life is catching back these days.

[abisha1980]

i always mix my turrets. mixing medium turrets with lasers, and flanks i use mostly front L turrets with plasma (makes sense) if you have a L turret on the back or below use a laser.
you would not use a Medium turret for large targets away (they designed to use against fighters)

so use 4/6 mix of turrets on the medium slots

[Immortallion 873]

So the way I understand it is Beam is good against S class ships, Bolt against M but what about Pulse???
Atm I only use Terran weapons and I like to have 3 or 4 Jians with me, what is the most effective weapon to have on that ship except for flak since I haven't even started gaining any rep with other races

Started as a Terran Cadet

[Alan Phipps]

Pulse in M turrets is good for getting the target's attention by scoring hits on it at longer range and it is less likely to cause 'friendly fire' incidents than flak or bolt. Its early hits tend to get fighters to concentrate on you sooner and so not on the (perhaps vulnerable) asset you are currently trying to protect. I like a healthy mix of pulse and flak for general-purpose defence, especially when defending against multiple fighter/drone enemies perhaps of mixed speeds and agilities and when there are also other friendly/neutral factions involved in the battle.

[budforceuk]

I personally just tend to stick to pulse turrets all round with the exception of front facing turrets on a destroyer set to attack target, and large station turrets, in which case I use plasma.

Pulse turrets (in my opinion) are the best all round against S/M sized ships.

To be honest, I think pulse weapons in general are generally the best all round, I'll use those as guns on my Corvette's.

You can do all the paper maths you want, but in practice you have to land the shots for the DPS to actually count, you also need to factor in range.

Pulse projectiles have good range and fast flight speed so whilst the damage is lower than other weapons, because you are landing more of the damage, and at a longer range I think overall you probably do more damage, they also dont overheat quickly so you can sustain the damage for longer periods.

[KextV8]

It's imprortant to use Argon turrets as they have highest rotation speed (essential against S/M ships).

You can sometimes trade rotation speed for projectile velocity. Velocity is just as important as without it, I don't care how well your turrets track, they aren't going to hit.

[jlehtone]

This thread was in March 2021 until Immortallion 873 did find it (in February 2022).
Some details of the game, turrets included, have certainly changed between these timepoints.

That said, my take on Terran turrets:

• I have lost some fighters to Terran turrets. I did not pay attention what they had; priority was to kill those TER culprits, not to ask nicely
• When I board TER ships, I can't really dictate what they come with. One was all-beam Asgard. I did not expect it to survive TER Patrol Tokyo and its 65 fighter escorts (+ 2 Osaka), but it did -- before 4.20.

[blackphoenixx]

Argon M flak is best against S and M ships by a landslide. Pulse hits more often but doesn't do enough damage so enemies tend to just lose a bit of shield and regenerate, but when flak hits your enemy will actually feel it.
Doesn't do too bad against capital ship subsystems either in a pinch.
It's either that or pulse, really. Beam does too little damage, bolt's higher damage is ruined by its inaccuracy (even if it looks really cool), shard is just terrible.

For L turrets TER bolt doesn't seem to hit that much worse than pulse to me and unlike pulse it still does appreciable damage to capital ships. Sure, most shots will miss, but when you hit your enemy will actually feel it.
Beam (even TER beam) does so little damage it's a waste of a turret slot. Pulse hits slightly better but does much less damage, i would't consider the improved performance worth the loss of anti-capital power.

But my go-to solution for dealing with fighters is fighters of my own, really.
Even if i dedicated ALL my turrets to anti-fighter duties a small interceptor wing would still do it better and it doesn't cost me anti-station dps, which is really all i use destroyers for aside from tanking.
My go-to turrets are PAR/SPL plasma or TER bolt for L and heavy missiles, dumbfire or plasma for M, though if you're doing pirate hunting a lot a couple M beams for missile defence can be quite worthwhile.

It's imprortant to use Argon turrets as they have highest rotation speed (essential against S/M ships).

You can sometimes trade rotation speed for projectile velocity. Velocity is just as important as without it, I don't care how well your turrets track, they aren't going to hit.

If your turret needs to track faster than the PAR and TEL ones are capable of your shot wouldn't hit anyway if it's not a beam. Even pulse will miss long before you reach 40°/second rotation, let alone the 120° ARG flak is capable of.
Destroyers also turn too slowly for the increased rotation speed to be necessary for compensating for your own movement. The only thing tracking speed really helps with there is quicker switching between targets.
It's a lot less valuable than people think, especially considering it costs you half the turrets hull. All the tracking speed in the world won't help you if your turret explodes after a single missile hit.

At least on destroyers anyway. On M ships it's ARG turrets every time since they're both moving faster and their turrets can't be attacked anyway.

[dmk]

i do prefer L plasma, split flak, and a lot of lasertowers (both types, as they do deployed independently), lasertowers handles smallest enemies, turrets handles the rest.

[GCU Grey Area]

a lot of lasertowers (both types, as they do deployed independently), lasertowers handles smallest enemies, turrets handles the rest.

Good recommendation, I also find laser towers absolutely invaluable. At times may have been literal lifesavers. For example: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n7z3rl0o4pa8w ... 1.jpg?dl=0
Flying a Syn meant that I couldn't outrun anything in the sector without activating travel mode. Couldn't activate travel mode with all those fighters shooting at me. Sooner or later all those capitals were going to activate their travel drives & be on me in a matter of seconds. At that point 2xI + 7xK probably wins. However, deploying laser towers (in batches of half a dozen or so) did wonders for distracting the fighters & letting me get away safely. Have also used them to distract turrets during 'smash the turrets' missions & when stealing ships in sectors with a strong police presence I often drop a few to keep them busy while I pickup my marines & fly away. Incidentally, in such circumstances I usually deactivate the laser towers when I'm far enough away - don't really want the rep hit if they kill any of the police, just to distract them for a while.

[dholmstr]

Btw how well does your captains use those lasertowers? I have been thinking about putting 50 or so for all capitals just for distraction. And mostly mk1.