Auto Turret

Defense that runs without a gunner

The Auto Turret is a powered emplacement in ARK: Survival Evolved and ARK: Survival Ascended. In the game's words: "Requires electricity to run. Consumes bullets while firing. Can be configured to automatically attack hostiles within range." It fires Advanced Rifle Ammo, and because nobody has to guide it, the ARK Wiki calls it invaluable against raids while a tribe is offline. Besides survivors and creatures, it can shoot down grenades, RPGs and the searing spit of the Magmasaur, and it fires up or down at targets in its line of sight, flyers included. The wiki describes the Plant Species X as an organic version with similar value.

Crafting it

The engram unlocks at level 68 for 40 engram points, and our records give the Assault Rifle as its prerequisite. A Fabricator or Tek Replicator builds it from:

• 140 Metal Ingot or Scrap Metal Ingot
• 70 Electronics
• 50 Cementing Paste or Achatina Paste
• 20 Polymer, Organic Polymer or Corrupted Nodule

It takes 5 seconds and gives 70 XP, and the turret weighs 4. In ASE our records list one recipe that takes an Auto Turret, the Heavy Auto Turret. Loot can supply one too: 75 crate types can contain it, for example the Aberration Red and Aberration Surface Yellow crates. Our records list it on 9 maps.

Range, targets and alarms

• Range: Low covers 20 meters (about 6 foundations), Medium 53 meters (about 14) and High 81 meters (about 21).
• Targets: six modes, from all targets, wild creatures included, down to only wild creatures, only tamed creatures or only survivors. Two more cover survivors plus tamed creatures, and survivors plus creatures a player is riding. Every mode ignores your own tribe and alliances, and every mode still fires at grenades and RPGs.
• Alarm: a 4 second or 2 second warning gives intruders time to leave; no warning is the default. The warning does not hold back the projectiles. An alarm also needs time to reset, and an intruder who stays hidden within range is then shot at once, with no new alarm.

Damage and placement limits

Since patch 231.4, turrets deal 2.2 times damage against all creatures, with no separate multiplier for flyers. Since 242.0 they cannot be built on the platform saddles of the Paracer, Mosasaurus, Quetzal, Brontosaurus or Plesiosaur unless a server option overrides this; otherwise only rafts and bases that do not move can carry them. The cap is 100 turrets within a radius of 10000 units, about 33.3 foundations, counting Plant Species X, Tek Turrets, Heavy Auto Turrets and Auto Turrets together. Turrets over the cap do not fire until the count drops, and server settings can raise it. The wiki adds that blasts from a Tek Rifle or a Tek Saddle cannot damage an Auto Turret.