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In this regular column, Vainglory Senior Editor BicycleSquid highlights interesting, confusing, complex or obscure aspects of Vainglory. If you’d like to see a topic covered, let him know here.

Update 1.23 will bring some love to our favorite AI-controlled defensive structures: turrets. Turrets are getting a visual upgrade in the form of a new laser targeting sight. We thought we’d use this change as a jumping off point to give players a general strategy guide to turrets.

Laser Sights!

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Turrets now have a laser sight to track their targets. Before, the turret would just point in a general direction and make a noise when it initially locked on a target. For new players, it was difficult to determine when they were being targeted and why. Now, the laser sight will give players the ability to see whether or not they are being targeted by a turret before the turret fires. This will allow players to be more confident in their attacks on turrets — no more worrying the turret will suddenly fire on you when you thought it was safely preoccupied with something else. It’s a small change, but we believe it will have a big impact on player confidence during matches.

An Introduction to Turrets

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A turret is an AI-controlled defensive structure. Turrets defend a side of the map from enemy heroes and minions. The map is divided in half, with the turrets on your starting side only capable of targeting (and damaging) enemy minions and heroes. So don’t worry about standing too close to your own turrets; if you’re on your side, they’ll protect you.

Of course, this means that the turrets on the other side of the map will only target your team and your minions. So, watch out! There are five turrets on each side. The three turrets in lane must be destroyed in order in order to target subsequent ones. Destroying the first three turrets net a team 300 gold each while destroying the last two turrets defending the Vain Crystal will net you 100 gold each. These last two turrets can be smashed in any order but must be defeated before you can damage that Vain Crystal.

How Turrets Choose Their Targets

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New players often wonder why turrets target them. First, you should know that turrets prioritize attacking minions first. That’s why it is always advisable to attack a turret with minions out in front of you as “meat shields.” The turret will ignore you unless you give it reason not to. Turrets will target you if:

• You are the only available target in range. If there are no minions around, look out! You’ll be the next thing the turret aims for.
• You attack an enemy hero near the turret. Turrets are programmed to defend their allied heroes. So if you attack an enemy hero, the turret will prioritize attacking you until you’re dead or you’ve moved out of range.
• Your ally that was being attacked has left the turret’s range and you are still within range. The turret, which was targeting your ally, will now switch to the next hero within its range. It could be you! This also means that you could end up getting shot at because an ally attacked an enemy hero. This particular scenario catches a lot of players off guard.

Players often worry about being targeted by a turret and with good reason. At a low level, a turret can kill you in only 2-3 hits. But while attacking enemy heroes or being the only target in range are surefire ways to get targeted, there are other abilities you can activate that won’t cause a turret to target you. Healing allies, for example, won’t cause the turret to target you. Triggering certain defensive abilities like Stormguard will also similarly not cause the turret to target you.

How to Destroy a Turret

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As previously mentioned, to destroy a turret, teams often use minions to absorb the turret’s damage while they and their allies attack the turret. In this way, you preserve your own team’s health while damaging the turret. The presence of minions will also “lower the turret’s shields” and make it vulnerable to attack. More specifically, you’ll see a white barrier on the turret’s health bar. As soon as enemy minions (or Kraken) are within range, that barrier will disappear. It’s generally advised to not attempt to take down a turret without the presence of allied minions.

But if you do attack a turret without a minion wave, there are some commonly used strategies for success. Your tank (often the roam protector on your team) has the highest health but often does the least amount of damage. Therefore, it is important for your tank to attract the focus of the turret. This can be achieved by having the tank hit the turret first; the turret will focus on attacking the tank even if you or another ally are the ones primarily dealing damage to it. You can also have your tank attack an enemy hero in order to draw the turret’s fire.

How a Turret’s Destruction Changes the Dynamics of the Game

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New players often don’t understand how the dynamics of the lane change when a turret is destroyed. By destroying a turret, the frontline shifts. Instead of the major engagements of the game taking place in the middle of the lane — where both sides have the same amount of brush and are equidistant from their bases — now one team is closer to their spawn point. This can be an advantage for the defensive team. The advancing team is also further from the protection of their own turret and far more exposed in its advance.

But the drawbacks of losing a turret are massive. The enemy team now has more places on the map to roam freely. They now have more avenues into your jungle, can lay down Scout Traps in lane and generally have more mobility than you do. Additionally, you have to travel far, far away from the safety of your next turret in order to try to destroy the enemy’s turret. You’re losing the battle for territory.

When to Destroy a Turret

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What players don’t often realize is that by destroying an enemy turret, the enemy team’s respawn timers are reduced. What does this mean? Let’s say it’s late in the game and you’ve just aced the enemy team (meaning all three enemy heroes are dead). Normally you’d be waiting about 45 seconds for them to respawn. But if you destroy a turret, that countdown timer is reduced so they’ll return to the battle faster.

This respawn reduction has major implications on your tactics. First and foremost, it’s important to think about whether you can finish your task before starting it. If you’re attempting a game-winning push, the question becomes: Can you destroy both turrets and the crystal before the enemy respawns and overwhelms you? If not, the enemy is likely to ace your team and push to win the game themselves.

Pro Tip: Simultaneous Turret Attack

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The final two turrets can be destroyed in either order. If you destroy just one, the opposing team’s respawn timer will be reduced and they’ll likely rally around the last turret to push you back … or worse. So instead of targeting one turret, your team should target and obliterate both turrets at the same time. This will reduce the cooldown timers for your enemies, but not before it’s too late. Plus, you may be able to finish the game by quickly destroy the enemy Vain Crystal.

Final Thoughts

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Understanding turrets — their limitations and the tactics used to dispatch them — is essential to success in Vainglory. To recap:

• In Update 1.23, turrets will have laser sights to indicate what they are targeting.
• Turrets will focus heroes if they are the only viable target or if an allied hero has been recently attacked.
• Be sure not to overextend if you’re advancing toward an enemy turret, and be wary of the various points where your opponents can ambush you.
• Make sure your tank absorbs the damage when “pushing” a turret.
• Destroying turrets reduces the amount of time the enemy stays dead.

The best way to improve your turret strategy is to practice. Bot matches and Battle Royale are great opportunities to sharpen your lane skills. See how your tactics evolve when Update 1.23 is released. Now get out there and push some turrets!