Cyclone

Cyclone is a 3×3 rapid-fire anti-air and anti-ground turret that uses item ammo and benefits heavily from coolant. It is essentially a larger, more versatile Scatter: both turrets share ammo types, but Cyclone can also hit ground targets, has better accuracy, and can be supplied with stronger ammunition for much higher damage. It is a common and dangerous enemy defense in higher-threat sectors, especially when paired with coolant and stronger ammo types.

Its basic ammunition is Metaglass, which is the easiest and safest option to mass-produce and store. It gives Cyclone a steady stream of shots with modest area damage and fragmentation, making it a smooth upgrade path from Scatter without requiring a new production chain. Plastanium increases direct damage and fragmentation, but is more expensive and slower to produce; using it for Cyclone can also compete with late-game unit and infrastructure production. Blast Compound favors splash coverage and is especially effective against groups, while Surge Alloy offers the highest direct damage and can chain lightning effects for brutal output against clustered targets.

Coolant dramatically increases Cyclone’s performance. Water boosts its fire rate to 160%, while Cryofluid boosts it to 235%. Because of this, Cyclone becomes much more lethal when supplied continuously and overdriven. Its large ammo consumption means that the best feeding method is usually Containers or Vaults with fast conveyors, especially Plastanium Conveyors, since the turret can drain a weak supply line extremely quickly and stop firing if ammo delivery cannot keep up.

Practical points:

• Metaglass ammo is the easiest to sustain and is the safest to stockpile.
• Plastanium ammo hits harder and is useful when raw damage matters, but it is costlier and less convenient to dedicate to defense.
• Blast Compound is excellent for swarms, but it is slow to produce and hazardous to store.
• Surge Alloy deals very high damage and becomes especially deadly against wet targets, but it is expensive and can interfere with late-game production chains.
• With coolant, Cyclone’s fire rate rises sharply, so supply throughput matters as much as ammo quality.
• It is most dangerous when enemy sectors pair it with coolant and high-tier ammo; do not underestimate a Cyclone defended by other turrets.

Cyclone was added early in the game’s history and has received several balance adjustments over time, mainly to its fire rate, coolant scaling, and ammo performance. Its name matches its behavior: its bullets spread outward more as they travel, giving the turret a storm-like pattern that suits its name.