Are turrets worth it?

[SlantedRhetoric]

My base just has walls with my colonists having to go outside of the walls to deal with whatever ends up attacking it.

I haven't messed with turrets yet because I'm worried about the "can explode if damaged" description, and I don't really know if just hooking one up right next to my outer wall will work out or not.

Would I need to build around using them, like make a pillbox for them to shoot out of or something, or are they fine just sitting right next to an outer wall as support if something shows up? I'm specifically looking at uranium slug turrets since mechanoids are showing up more often now that my colony is around 170k.

[Kangaroo Salesman]

Yeah they are, most only explode in a small radius so place something between them to counter a chain reaction.

[hardy_conrad]

I normally don't bother with turrets until right before I launch, although there's better advice than mine out there. It seems like keeping them powered and not destroyed by stuff like wildfires is a bit of a distraction for one thing. That matters less if they're closer to the base of course.

[MadArtillery]

They can be very useful but you have to be very careful where you place them and not just because they can explode. They friendlyfire hard, Autocannons especially have killed far too many of my colonists with a bullet to the back of the head. Something dumb like an iguana in your farm getting manhuntered can leave a colonist headshot and dead instantly. They are just as effective against enemies but you have to give them a completetly dedicated firing line.

I believe though this information may be old that they don't properly recieve cover like a colonist so cover only absorbs missed shots so while cover for them may save a bit of damage it really shouldn't be high priority unless you mod in proper cover for them.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by SlantedRhetoric:

...Would I need to build around using them, like make a pillbox for them to shoot out of or something, or are they fine just sitting right next to an outer wall as support if something shows up?

For small turrets, build an enclosure to restrict their firing arc so they can't direct their fire towards where your pawns may normally be. Adding a firepopper in radius will prevent continued fires when they explode. Protect the batteries/power by running wires through walls behind them and branching to each turret if they'r in a contiguous bank. (So it's likely only their own feedline is cut if damaged. Or, you can put in redundant power feeds.) Always put turrets on Switches for on-demand use only.

Turrets are worth it if they are in a place where they can fire upon the enemy for prolonged periods of time or are actively supplementing your own colonists doing the same.

I'm specifically looking at uranium slug turrets since mechanoids are showing up more often now that my colony is around 170k.

I don't use 'em, so can't answer to that. IMO, their rate of fire and range mean they're best used in combination with specific construction that funnels enemies into their field of fire. (I haven't used them/similar in years. Some players seem to like them, though.)

[MadArtillery]

You may also find this video useful as it's testing each turret type. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3bsAr0-HD8&t=235s

[Locklave]

Turrets are less there to do actual fighting and more there to delay enemies buying you time to get in place and/or discourage a breach raid from where they are. They also take shots that might have been aimed at pawns.

If you get enough turrets in once place they can be devastating however.

[Pinhead]

place sandbags next to the direction you want the turrets to focus fire on and cover them with granite walls to prevent explosions. in general all turrets are very useful as early game mini turrets can finish off melee raiders before they get too close and autocannon and slug turrets work wonders against mechanoids (high armor piercing with a decent fire rate) like centipedes that like to tank hits. don't ever build foam turrets though, firefoam poppers and pop packs are just much better than them

[Veylox]

No, they're really bad, especially the first tier.

They might work on lower difficulties, if you have a couple enemy per raid, but their damage is low, rate of fire is low, they're high maintenance, they take power, they get run over by any serious raid, etc.

There are popular killbox designs that use a brickton of turrets to add firepower but really it's not worth the cost, you can reach better efficiency with pawn-only killboxes

Mortars are situationally useful though, it's always good to get a couple of them

[hardy_conrad]

I'm definitely a fan of mortars. They're fantastic for dealing with crashed mechanoid ships, and pretty good for regular raids if they don't attack immediately.

[Steelfleece]

Turrets actually don't add much to the value of the colony, so adding three turrets may do less to escalate raids than adding one dude with a pistol. You also don't care that much if they're blown up, and if it's a tribal raid or anyone else with melee weapons said exploding turret will probably take a few of them with it. If you can spare the resources, consider them traps with a ranged attack.

You can also plunk down a few turrets, even unpowered I believe, in mines or other places you'd rather sappers not break in through. They'll try to avoid the turrets, even if that means wandering into your turretless killbox instead.

[BanDHMO]

Worth it compared to what? What else are you going to do with power, steel and components to augment your combat strength?

Sure, they have many downsides, but you'd much rather fight raiders alongside turrets and traps than without them.

[Hykal]

Miniturrets are generally only worth it for being bait for doomsdays and rockets. You'd want autocannons, a few of them in fact, as the general purpose turret, and uranium slug turrets to be turned on for big targets like centipedes.

I've admittedly not use rocketswarm turrets much, preferring to have a pawn carry a launcher so if anyone can give tips to use it, that'd be great.

[Minty Fresh]

Miniturrents are very worth it, especially as soaks that the enemy attack instead of your colonists. Make sure you make them out of plasteel though - that gives them almost 3x the hit points of steel turrents (which blow up far too quickly).

[Veylox]

Originally posted by BanDHMO:

Worth it compared to what? What else are you going to do with power, steel and components to augment your combat strength?

Sure, they have many downsides, but you'd much rather fight raiders alongside turrets and traps than without them.

Steel and components are two of the most important, and scarce resources you need to augment combat power (or do anything else of importance really), so clearly turrets have competition there. Most mid to endgame weapons and armors will make use of steel and components

Mechs are a much better steel investment than turrets for example

[The Blind One]

Originally posted by Veylox:

Mechs are a much better steel investment than turrets for example

That's because mechs are ridiculously cheap and OP.