Turret

From Mass Effect Wiki

Turrets are stationary heavy artillery posts. They are usually found guarding bases or positions on remote worlds. Turrets are equipped with shields and fire rockets at any hostiles that come within range. The rockets normally move slowly enough to dodge, but can cause massive damage to Shepard's squad or the Mako, especially if their shields are already depleted.

On foot, it is prudent to hit turrets with Sabotage before moving in to take them out. In the Mako, the mass accelerator cannon will make a mess of a turret's shields and then destroy them, while any rockets can be carefully dodged with the jump jets. While in the Mako, if you are aware of a turret's position, it is possible to snipe it from an impressive distance, because they're not aware of you before you come within range or fire upon them. For example, the turrets on Noveria can be hit in a surprise attack from across the valley.

Turrets can be hacked with Master AI Hacking, providing cover for your team while you take out smaller enemies, or to turn on other nearby turrets and soften them up.

Spoiler warning: plot and / or ending details follow.

[edit] Notable Turret Positions

[edit] Uncharted Worlds

• Alliance Heavy Turrets are mounted on the roof of base entrances. They are usually grouped in threes for better coverage and pack a powerful punch. However, their close proximity does make it easier to Sabotage all three, or use AI Hacking.
• Geth Heavy Turrets are geth emplacements and appear on most worlds where the geth have gained a foothold. They are usually placed individually along a set route, or in pairs to guard a specific location.
• Mercenary or Pirate Turrets guard pirate bases and are usually in hidden positions in the surrounding hills. They can be incredibly dangerous unless you spot them all, as pirates and mercenaries often have snipers in their team who fry your shields leaving you vulnerable to rockets.
• The turrets surrounding the fusion torches and the main base in Bring Down the Sky have two new characteristics:

• Firstly, the turrets are 'sheathed' and do not emerge from the ground until you get close enough, foiling any attempt to snipe them from a distance. This means the Mako has to be very close to attack, and given they are placed in groups, dodging the rockets becomes more difficult. However, 'reclaiming' each fusion torch station from the batarians will render the turrets harmless, so it's also possible to endure the rockets until you can park close enough to the station to get inside.
• Secondly, the turrets outside the main base are on rails, making aiming at them much more difficult. A better solution is to use AI Hacking on those turrets - as the other turrets won't be able to hit them either - or wait until they have moved to one end of the rail and attack them then.

[edit] Mission / Assignment Specific

• There are several unmarked turret positions on Luna beyond the training facility, presumably used to train marines in assaulting artillery posts.
• During the assignment UNC: Listening Post Alpha, the turrets at the listening post are inactive because they run off a damaged generator. Shepard can hook the turrets to the Mako, meaning there is heavy artillery cover against the rachni but the Mako cannot be used.
• The Citadel Defence Turrets form part of the Citadel's defence grid. They are placed on the station's exhaust plains and activated in times of need. During the Citadel incursion, Shepard can use Electronics to hack the turrets and turn them against a Geth Dropship.