NPCs & Enemies Mechanic: The Turret Update

[Squideer]

This has been bugging me for a while, Really ever since I found a Snowball Launcher within minutes of launching Terraria since the 1.2 update.
Turrets could be a completely new type of Ranged class, Requiring steady platforms, Being able to disassemble and reassembling their weapons, And a bit of mobility to keep ahead of the enemies.


This suggestion could go two ways, Either the Mechanic that currently exists could sell players various turrets after a certain milestone in the game, Or a completely different NPC could exist that sells players the various turrets. (Or it could be a third option where each day the Mechanic leaves town, And a "new" NPC arrives that's secretly just the Mechanic in a disguise. If it was the third option I'd like an additional update that enable turrets to become active with wire, Being able to preload ammo into them)


Similar to the Snowball Launcher, The turrets would require a space of around 3x3 bricks to be placed. Once placed it require both ammo and the manuel input from the player to activate the turrets to fire said-ammo. A few suggestions for various Turrets:


The Fireworks Launcher: Both an item used in festive celebrations, And a malicious means of destroying the enemy, The fireworks launcher throws out rockets at a high velocity. Upon coming in contact with an enemy, Or traveling a distance of 20-25 bricks, The rockets detonate in an explosion of confetti damaging any enemies that manage to be caught in the blast radius. (Similar to the Fireworks Box)

The Flare Cannon: Whether your goal is to critically injure your enemies, Completely blind your enemies, Or just alert your adversaries, This is the tool for you. What sets this apart from the Flare Gun is it's unique ability to fire Sticky Flares. If it comes in contact with an enemy, It both sticks to them , And causes a brief Damage Over Time debuff due to the high temperature the flares burn at.

The Autodrill: Tired of wasting your days away digging with little or no reward? Worry no further. This unique device is able to utilize explosives, And concentrate 100% of their power downwards. (Basically the difference between this and regular explosives, When you throw a bomb or a stick of dynamite, It explodes in an "O" pattern, Evenly spacing out the blast. When fired from this turret, However, It results an explosion that's an a V pattern, Opposed to an O pattern)

The Hookshot: Requiring a piece of chain/per brick travelled, This fires out a shot at an extremely fast speed. It stops after coming in contact with a brick, Or the players inventory has run out of chain. After a certain distance it will start to arc downwards like the Rainbow Gun, But at a less gradual rate.


Some of these ideas aren't good, A little are a bit dumb. The point is I'd like to see more applications for Turrets, The only ones that currently exist are the Snowball Launcher, Cannon, and Bunny Cannon.

 

[Kazzymodus]

The problem with stationary turrets is that they require the player to be... well, stationary. And from a game design point of view, you don't want players standing still and just blasting away, you want them to move around, dodge, aim, be active. That's a lot more exciting.

 

[MegaMage314 🌳]

Turrets the way they are now seem pretty useless though. The only way to make them useful would be if they could be activated by wire

 

[Squideer]

The problem with stationary turrets is that they require the player to be... well, stationary. And from a game design point of view, you don't want players standing still and just blasting away, you want them to move around, dodge, aim, be active. That's a lot more exciting.

Not necessarily, Because of the hindered movement this could be viewed as an "Expert" class like Summoners, Both would be capable of doing anything that ranged/mage/melee can do, Only a little more difficult. (Additionally movement would still be required, I doubt it would be possible to camp against bosses like Plantera, Or even the Wall of Flesh for that matter)

I wouldn't view it as a stationary class, For it to become that would mean it requires some effort to set up a defence, Only to take it down. What I'm suggesting is a fast-deployable turret that players can use like a ranged weapon, With slightly faster firerate/damage output, In exchange for hindered movement and "Bad Accuracy" (Depending how badly the player is at picking up and dropping down the turret(s).

Turrets the way they are now seem pretty useless though. The only way to make them useful would be if they could be activated by wire

Those technically exist now that I've thought about it, They're called traps.

 

[MegaMage314 🌳]

Those technically exist now that I've thought about it, They're called traps.

Most traps can only be activated once every few seconds though, turrets can be activated many times a second, but they consume ammunition

 

[Squideer]

Most traps can only be activated once every few seconds though, turrets can be activated many times a second, but they consume ammunition

I'd say traps are in a different catagory than Turrets. Traps are things you can construct by wiring the trap to a switch which when activated causes the trap to go off. (A timer could be used in place of a trap)

Because of this however, Traps can take a while to actually be constructed.

My suggestion is working on the turret class, Because as you said, They're currently lacking. I wouldn't see carrying around ammo being an issue, As I said this would fall under a Ranged-type of class, And anybody who chooses this character class should be familiar with keeping a decent stock of ammo. (Turret ammo would occupy the Ammo Slots like other ranged projectiles)


I do support the idea of some turrets being activated with wire, But not all. The reason why I say not all is because I'd players would treat them more likes traps to fortify their base than an actual class in the game. Some turrets like the Snowball Launcher could be activated via wire, But only if players have stocked them with ammo.