Factorio Forums

I am sick of ammo turrets....so I switch to laser but they cause blackouts....
accumulators are cheap on the other hand and here are my questions

can I put all accumulators at one place in my base and it will cover the whole map where the electric wires are?
Or do I need to put them around laser turrets?
Also how many per laser turrets?
Will research help improving laser turrets?

One shot costs 800 kJ. One accumulator stores 500 MJ

You don't have to build accumulators specifically for laser turrets. Just transitioning to solar power covers them automatically. Coal power can then be turned into backup power using an SR-latch

Will research help improving laser turrets?

Yes. A lot. But shooting speed research means they cost even more energy in a certain time frame obviously.

solar power, what about during the night?
Can solar replace completely boilers and steam engines?

factoriobiker wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 9:03 pm solar power, what about during the night?
Can solar replace completely boilers and steam engines?

Solar panels do not work at night. You either need to maintain steam engine power or augment the system with accumulators. Accumulators scale very well with solar panels which is the reason why most players assume to make and place both solar panels and accumulators when you, "go solar"

21 accumulators to 25 solar panels, or just do one to one and you will be overkill on accumulators. You can easily power your entire base without the steam engines.

factoriobiker wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:56 pm can I put all accumulators at one place in my base and it will cover the whole map where the electric wires are?
Or do I need to put them around laser turrets?

It doesnt matter where they are, they just need to be connected to the same electric grid.

factoriobiker wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:56 pm Also how many per laser turrets?

Well it depends on the amount of lasers and the size of the attack.
I would start with 10 accumulators. This should keep the lights from flickering.
If its not enough then add more. You cant have too many accumulators.

factoriobiker wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:56 pm Will research help improving laser turrets?

increased Energy weapons damage makes the turrets stronger and they might require less shots to kill some biters.

What don't you like about ammo turrets? I would not switch to laser until I had a nuclear plant up and running. If your batteries run empty, your base will be undefended. I find a mix of bullet and laser turrets to be perfect.

If you're hand-loading bullets, you're doing it wrong. This is Factorio. Automate. I use yellow inserters and yellow belt to feed my turrets, because they don't need any better, and the yellow inserters give a reliable turret count. Also, design a wall/turret template, and slap it down, along with roboports, and let the robots build your base.