Tier 1 Turrets Guide

Understanding Tier 1 Turrets

This guide provides detailed insights into Tier 1 (T1) turrets available in Beyond All Reason, focusing on their tactical applications for defense. While integrated into the Armada Strategy Guide, the information applies across factions, offering Armada players a deeper understanding of defensive structures for both personal use and anticipating enemy setups. Each turret is evaluated for its strengths, weaknesses, and situational effectiveness to help you make informed decisions on the battlefield.

Light Laser Tower (Sentry)

• Stats: DPS 80-160, Health 620.
• Role: Most common defensive turret, offers good rate of fire and decent damage.
• Benefits: Effective for positional cover to maintain control of an area; ideal for open maps to create resistance against enemy travel.
• Drawbacks: Relatively low damage output, best used as a barrier rather than a primary damage dealer.
• Tactical Use: Place in clusters (e.g., 3-4) on wider maps to cover key areas or chokepoints, ensuring vision and delaying enemy pushes. Useful in 1v1 scenarios to secure flanks like mountainsides.

Beamer Turret

• Stats: DPS up to 260, Health over twice that of Light Laser Tower (approx. 1240+).
• Role: Stronger defensive turret with continuous rate of fire.
• Benefits: Excellent at handling large quantities of small units due to continuous damage; higher DPS and durability compared to Light Laser Tower.
• Drawbacks: Still vulnerable without additional protection; not as effective against single, high-health targets.
• Tactical Use: Deploy in areas expecting swarms of small units; enhance survivability with basic wall defenses (though walls primarily deter travel, not gunfire). Preferred over Gauntlet for cost-effectiveness in most scenarios.

Pop-Up Lightning Turret

• Stats: Not specified in detail, but noted for high damage to groups.
• Role: Stealthy defensive turret that blends with walls.
• Benefits: Matches wall height, making it harder to hit without damaging walls first; lightning attack chains to multiple units, causing immense damage to groups.
• Drawbacks: Less effective against solitary or spread-out targets.
• Tactical Use: Place behind walls for protection and surprise; ideal against clustered enemy units due to chain lightning effect. Highly feared for its group-wiping potential in T1 phase.

Gauntlet

• Stats: DPS 190, Metal Cost 1250, large attack radius.
• Role: Long-range defensive turret, most expensive T1 option.
• Benefits: Immense range with area-of-effect damage within radius; useful for covering wide areas.
• Drawbacks: High metal cost (7-8x Beamer's cost), long build time, low DPS for cost; signals enemy to push aggressively when spotted under construction.
• Tactical Use: Highly situational; best placed out of enemy reach (e.g., protected by planes or terrain) to leverage range. Avoid building near frontline due to build time and push risk; often less effective than Beamer for metal investment.

Nettle Turret (Pop-Up Anti-Air Missile)

• Stats: DPS 176, Range 840.
• Role: Basic anti-air defense turret.
• Benefits: Decent range for early air defense; pop-up design offers some protection.
• Drawbacks: Weakened by recent air buffs; takes multiple shots (approx. 4) to down a single plane, requiring more metal investment for effectiveness.
• Tactical Use: Deploy sporadically if unsure of enemy air presence; increase numbers significantly if bombing runs are confirmed to counter weakened defense capabilities.

Chainsaw (Bomber-Resistant Anti-Air Missile Battery)

• Stats: Not specified, but noted for massive range and multiple missile salvos.
• Role: Advanced anti-air defense turret.
• Benefits: Fires multiple missiles simultaneously, dramatically reducing air threats; extensive range covers large areas.
• Drawbacks: Higher cost than Nettle; overkill if no air threat is present.
• Tactical Use: Essential against confirmed air aggression; place 1-2 around base for early game protection to deter bombers effectively. Far superior to Nettle in every aspect for air defense.

Coastal Torpedo

• Stats: DPS 150, large range.
• Role: Water-based defensive turret.
• Benefits: Effective against T1 water units; matches range of most naval attackers, negating their advantage.
• Drawbacks: Highly situational, only useful on maps with significant water areas.
• Tactical Use: Deploy on maps like Supreme Isthmus to defend against early water bombardments at key straits or coastal attack points. Addresses the common issue of lacking range to hit water units.

OverWatch Turret

• Stats: Lower DPS than Beamer (exact value not specified), slightly higher health, longer range.
• Role: Alternative to Beamer with extended range.
• Benefits: More durable than Beamer with a longer attack range.
• Drawbacks: Lower DPS makes it less effective for damage output; higher cost for marginal benefits.
• Tactical Use: Generally less preferred than Beamer due to reduced damage; use only if tankiness and range are critical over raw DPS. Often considered less optimal for typical defensive needs where units absorb hits and turrets deal damage.

Walls and Defensive Strategy

• T1 Walls: Primarily deter travel rather than block gunfire; most units can shoot over them, offering little protection against ranged attacks. Useful with Pop-Up turrets (e.g., Lightning) for added defense.
• Strategic Placement: Balance turret deployment with economy and army strength. High-cost turrets like Gauntlet can drain resources better spent on units or eco if not used situationally.
• Enemy Response: Be aware that visible construction of expensive turrets (e.g., Gauntlet) may provoke aggressive enemy pushes; plan defenses accordingly with backup units or hidden placements.

Strategic Insights

Mastering Tier 1 turrets enhances your defensive capabilities as an Armada player in Beyond All Reason. From the versatile Light Laser Tower for basic area control to the specialized Chainsaw for air defense and Coastal Torpedo for water maps, each turret serves distinct roles. Understanding their strengths and situational uses—such as pairing Pop-Up Lightning Turrets with walls or reserving Gauntlet for protected, long-range scenarios—allows for tailored defensive strategies. Use this guide to fortify your positions effectively while balancing resource allocation for economy and mobile forces.