Afflict

Afflict is a late‑game turret unlocked by Surge Alloy that fires a powerful energised orb which emits fragile, short‑lived secondary bullets (frags). The turret requires both power and heat to operate: heat is commonly supplied by Electric Heaters, allowing Afflict to be run without any item input. When both resources are present the turret loads an orb and becomes ready to fire; the orb and its frags deal high single‑target damage and the frag pattern extends the effective reach of the weapon beyond the turret’s main projectile range. Afflict was added in Build 136 and has received multiple balance changes affecting build cost, build time, frag behaviour, range and heat requirements.

Afflict excels at punching through heavily armoured single targets and threats that can be hit by its fragile fragments. Prior to Build 148 the frags could infinitely pierce; since that change frags now have a limited pier cap (3) and reduced lifetime and homing, so the turret functions primarily as a strong single‑target turret rather than an endless area‑pierce weapon. The frag bullets still make Afflict effective at intercepting missiles because fragments trigger missile detonation when passed through. After Build 151 its range was increased to 46 blocks, allowing it to outrange some other high‑tier threat types.

Afflict’s operation details and practical notes:

• Heat and power behaviour: the turret requires both to become active. When placed it will show a “needs resources” state until both are provided. Once loaded (idle/orange state) it retains a loaded orb and can fire once even if subsequently disconnected briefly, though rotation requires power. This allows tactics such as unplugging the turret between waves to save grid power if you can guarantee no immediate threat.
• Resource setup: Electric Heaters provide an easy and compact heat source so Afflict can be deployed without item logistics. Note that Build 155 raised the heat input to 20 heat units and reduced maximum efficiency to 100%, increasing heater requirements compared with earlier builds.
• Combat role: very effective versus all Tier 3 units and many Tier 4 targets when appropriately supported by heaters (a 180% configuration with six Electric Heaters was noted as handling Tier 3 groups). Use Afflict as a focused point defence or heavy single‑target gun rather than an anti‑swarm primary.
• Anti‑missile use: the frag pattern and pier mechanics make Afflict a solid anti‑missile turret because passing fragments often cause missiles to explode prematurely.
• Weaknesses and counters: Afflict has a relatively low fire rate, making it vulnerable to massed fast attackers that can overwhelm single‑target DPS (examples include large numbers of missile‑spawning units). Because it depends on heat rather than items, cutting heater nodes or interrupting heating instantly shuts it down; targeting heaters or the heat network disables the turret. Highly mobile glass‑cannon units that can dive past walls can also take Afflict out quickly if they reach it.
• Build considerations: Surge Alloy cost and build time have fluctuated across versions (cost increased then lowered again), and frag behaviour was nerfed in Build 148 (pierce cap to 3, reduced homing and lifetime). Keep these version differences in mind when planning base defence and heater provisioning.

Afflict should be placed where its extended frag reach can threaten approaches while heaters can be reliably supplied and protected. Use logic or timing to disable heaters between waves in modes that permit automation to save power and avoid unnecessary heat consumption.