Turbolasers: the kings and queens of long-range pew-pew. The most iconic slot in Armada, and one of the most hotly contested. There are a lot of options here, but no single must-have like ExRacks in Ordnance or HIE in Ion. That makes it both one of the healthiest categories and one of the hardest to balance. So which turbolasers are worth your points, and which are just binder filler? Let’s find out.
DBY-827 Heavy Turbolaser
Excellent if you’re leaning into Salvo builds. Increases in value if you have two Salvos and Flak Guns. While some argue it’s undercosted, you really have to build around it to get full value. Still, I would not be opposed to making it 4 points.
Verdict: Leave as is or increase to 4.
Dual Turbolaser Turrets
The 1-point drop was too timid. At 4 points and a mod slot (how insane is LTT NOT being a mod by comparison?), they’re still not competing.
Verdict: Make them 3 points, and suddenly they’re the go-to for cheap rerolls.
Enhanced Armament
Still overpriced. Dropping it to 9 would make it more viable — though combos like Ackbar + Concentrate Fire + C&S complicate matters. But really, C&S should just cost more, which would free this up to be reasonably priced.
Verdict: Leave as is or decrease to 9.
H9 Turbolasers
Iconic, powerful, and fair at 8 points + modification. No complaints.
Verdict: Leave as is.
Heavy Fire Zone
Verdict: Leave as is, bin it, I don't care.
Heavy Turbolaser Turrets
Used to be pretty awful. The cost drop makes them much more affordable.
The Brace + Evade (quite a few additional ships have this combo now) and Brace + Salvo (very useful if you're up against Salvo) interactions make them somewhat viable now. Useless against Thermal Shields, though, and does nothing if the defender has no brace.
Still not my favorite, but it has a role now, and the cost more accurately reflects the card's utility.
Verdict: Leave as is.
Linked Turbolaser Towers
Even post-rework, this card remains a design mistake. Unlimited rerolls, extra flak, no mod slot (laughable), cheap.
The Bombard keyword kind of helps, but just leaves ships like Chargers and Hardcells in the dirt. I would go so far as to say that taking this card away from those two ships is a big mistake. Reductions of 3 and 2 points, respectively, cannot compensate.
And if ever Rebel and Empire ships get keywords... You can't give the ISD-II "bombard," which is just lol.
LLT should never have existed in this form! After PDIC, this is THE worst card in the game. Yes, that includes Adv Transponder Net, bc that card is just useless, while this one harms the game's design space!
Verdict: I honestly don't know. The latest iteration has removed it from SOME ships, so a step in the right direction, but it's still a problematic card. Burn it?
Quad Battery Turrets
A shining example of balanced design. Situational, has counterplay, but shines when used correctly.
Verdict: Perfect as-is.
Quad Turbolaser Cannons
Thankfully, self-balanced by cost + mod restriction. Still a mistake conceptually: punishes the core mechanics of the game rather than adding depth.
Verdict: Leave as is, I guess. If other turbolaser costs are reduced like I suggest, this would be the most expensive card in the category, further reducing its attractiveness. But really, pretty bad design IMO.
Slaved Turrets
Not worth more than 5 points given the mod slot tax. If worried about Ackbar + C&S, fix C&S, not this.
Verdict: Reduce to 5 points.
Spinal Armament
If Enhanced Armament comes down to 9, this should come down to 8 to keep parity. Otherwise fine.
Verdict: Reduce to 8 if EA to 9.
Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (TRC)
Another problematic card. Yes, it makes CR90As sing — but even nerfed, the swing it offers warps list-building for small ships. It’s one of those upgrades that has defined and limited design space for a decade.
Verdict: Push it to 8, maybe rebalance CR90A down a point. That way, CR90A is 43+3=46 with DTT but still 51 with TRC. TRC is still the better option, but at least you're paying for it.
XI7 Turbolasers
Classic, elegant design. Doesn’t kill Redirect, but forces tough choices. No extra damage, no nonsense, just strong pressure. 6 points is quite cheap for what XI7 brings to the table. Should it be a mod? Maybe an exhaust? Increase cost to 7?
Verdict: Can be left as is, but it would not be wrong to consider a points change or minor adjustment.
XX-9 Turbolasers
Always niche, always “win more.” But at 2 points and ignoring Contain, it’s at least worth considering now. And I actually see it in a decent number of lists, so I think it's actually fine now.
Verdict: Leave as is.
Swivel-Mount Batteries
Limited to GAR/CIS, powerful but balanced by token costs and the mod slot. A case of FFG getting it right first try.
Verdict: Leave as is.
Final Verdict:
Turbolasers are in a better spot than most categories: diverse, thematic, and with no single auto-include. But a few standouts (TRC, Linked Turbos) still warp fleet-building, while cards like Enhanced Armament or Dual Turbos are deserving of point tweaks.
Next Up:
Titles. From the insanely powerful like Demolisher (even post-nerf) and Patriot Fist (6 points, really?), to the laughably tanky like Tranquility (even at 7 points), to the nerfed-to-death like Avenger, to the utterly useless like Eclipse (you seriously took an SSD to run THIS title!???) and Independednce (the worst card in the game?), we'll look at them all.
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