StarWraith 3D Games Forum

While docked at a station I used external views to watch a capital ship getting shot at by the station defenses. The turrets on the defense unit faced the ship, but the missiles coming out were launched in the opposite direction, then flying a quick 180 to head toward the target.

Not sure if that was a one-time anomaly or is repeatable, as I haven't had the opportunity to watch another turret closely (capital ship moves slowly enough that it was easy to stay focused on the station's defense turret). Might be worth looking into though.

Sounds like expected behavior. Missiles will generally launch from the top of a turret and move out a bit, then turn to face a target. From some angles, this could appear as though its firing in the opposite direction at first. And depending on the target's relative direction, the missile can even spin around a bit at first, before settling in on a direct vector, causing it to appear to be flying away briefly. But in all instances, they should eventually settle in on a direct vector after about 2-3 seconds.

Ah, OK. As missiles were the only thing coming out of the "turret" I thought it looked off. I guess the turrets can actually fire things other than missiles, but for some reason this one just wasn't. I've avoided conflicts generally, so far, focusing on trading until I can afford some combat-quality ship components!

That is correct, they will also fire particle cannon blasts, but generally only when in range. They may often prepare to fire at a target before it reaches particle cannon range, in anticipation of the attack, but will generally only engage with missiles at first due to their longer range, before firing particle cannons (sometimes a ship never really reaches particle cannon range, so missiles are the only weapons fired).

As a first step for combat components, I would highly recommend the cannon relay and cannon heatsink. Moderately expensive, but very useful first items in terms of combat.