Turbolasers

Turbolasers are the upgrade slot I associate mostly with red-colored dice. They don't only help red dice but are particularly good for improving long-range attacks.

DBY-827 (DBYs) is the newest turbolaser added to the list! This card allows you to change one die to a face with a [critical] icon during a salvo attack. This allows your salvos to always produce at least one damage! (Or 2 if you have black dice in your salvo pool). 3 points is not too bad since this card only boosts your salvo attacks. This card can fit on nearly anything that can get Local Fire Control or has a native salvo, but make sure you have enough reliable firepower outside of salvo. Also, this card may push your opponent to avoid attacking this ship altogether, which can be great if you're carrying a lynchpin for your fleet.

Dual Turbolaser Turrets (DTTs) can be a bit confusing to new players. This card allows you to add one red die to your initial attack roll, and after the roll cancel one attack die. You may cancel any attack die, so it's a sort of improving your odds upgrade. It also eats up the modification slot. Personally, and I think a lot of veteran players would agree, take Linked Turbolaser Towers (LTT) instead. It's 2 points more expensive but so much better. If you're really strapped on points then this card has its place, but I would highly recommend LTT.

I have a love-hate relationship with Enhanced Armament (EA). 10 points is rather steep for what this upgrade does and it is a modification. This card, like Spinal Armament, increases your battery armament so it does help with fire lanes and obstruction. I have used EA maybe a handful of times but every time it disappoints me and I wonder why I didn't bring LTT, TRC, or something more role-specific. The only places I can see this being okay are on an Arquittens or an Ackbar MC30, but even those are a tough sell.

H9 Turbolasers (H9s) on the other hand, are great! and probably what you'd want on those Ackbar MC30s (sans TRC). H9s are one of my favorite upgrades in the game. I love to run Torpedo MC30s and this card makes them at least twice as lethal. Dropping a close rage double arc where each attack has a guaranteed accuracy is huge. This card shines specifically with ships that have Blue dice in their batteries because blue dice will always show a [hit], [crit], or native [accurracy] icon. It can be used with red dice and is still really potent, but it's not always guaranteed. If you're going to be rolling a medium to a large amount of damage I would highly recommend this card.  

Uhhhhh. Heavy Fire Zone (HFZ) is a card. I don't think I've ever seen this on a table before. I don't think you should use this card.

Heavy Turbolaser Turrets (HTTs) is a solid card. It can really assist in avoiding as much salvo as possible. I would recommend using this card on a ship that is going to drop a lot of damage onto an enemy. This forces your opponent to either only brace or use other tokens and only get to remove one damage from the brace. It can allow you to really shave down shields and avoid getting salvoed since your opponent would most likely rather brace down 5+ damage instead of redirecting and salvoing. 6 points is also not too bad of a price, just make sure you have other ways of fixing those dice.

Linked! Turbolaser! Towerrrrrrs! (LTTs). LTT is one of the most goated cards in the whole game. 7 points for a red die reroll and a super killy flak option is *chefs kiss*. The reroll will proc nearly every time you roll red dice since one of them is bound to blank out. This works on all attacks as well, so both main battery attacks and as many salvos as you can shoot per turn! If you have red flak dice you can reroll on every flak shot you take! The second ability is essentially just a Fuck this one squadron in particular ability. You may add two dice of any color (both dice you add have to be the same color), if you do then you may not attack other squadrons for this attack. I would urge you to add red dice to your flak attacks if you don't already have them, not only are red dice capable of rolling doubles on squads but one of those dice can be rerolled by LTT! I take this on a lot of my ships, but there are times when you should bring other cards. If you're having trouble deciding what card to take if any, I'd go for LTT.

Quad Battery Turrets (QBTs) is a fantastic card. It works wonderfully on a lot of ships and pairs particularly well with the Ion upgrade Leading Shots. In order for this card to proc your enemy must be at a higher speed than yourself, so stay at speed one if you can. This card affects every shot you take at any ship going faster than you (not salvo). Adding up to 2 blue dice in one turn for 5 points is pretty dang good, and it's easy to get working. I would recommend taking this on ships that already like to go slow. No Cr90s, MC30s, Glads, etc. Yes, HMC80s, Neb-bs, Munificents, etc. HMC80s in particular love this card because they can take engine techs to do a pseudo speed two maneuvers while technically being at speed one. They can also take Leading Shots which I've already mentioned is a fantastic pairing for QBTs.

Quad Tubrolser Cannons (QTCs) is a pretty solid card. It is a modification that allows you to add a red die set to an accuracy icon if you have a red accuracy already rolled. This card is paired well with high damage shots that will greatly benefit from two accuracies. My issue with this card is that it is 10 points for a luck-based upgrade. The only way to guarantee the second accuracy is by first guaranteeing an initial accuracy by using Home One, Sensor Teams, or Captain Jonus. If you cannot use either of those cards then QTC feels like an iffy choice. On the other hand, when you do manage to roll a native red accuracy then this card is well worth it.

Slaved Turrets is, once again, just a solid choice. It has its place on a handful of ships but not all ships can benefit greatly from it. For one less point than LTTs, it can be a hard sell since red dice are so fickle. I have used it on a Salvation Neb-B to pretty good effect and I have seen it go absolutely nuts on a "Giga Drill" Ackbar Assault Frigate. The stipulation of only being able to attack once per round is pretty hefty, but worth it if you wouldn't be double arcing anyway. I slept on this card for a while but loved it when I did finally try it out.

 Spinal Armament (Spinals) is like Enhanced Armament for front and rear arcs. I have used spinals much more than enhanced armament because it is an auto-include on my favorite LMC80 kit. It can also be pretty handy on an Assault Frigate Mk. II A since it makes all four sides four dice attacks. No matter where your opponent goes you have 4-8 dice on them. Important to note is that Spinals do not affect salvo since it doesn't edit your printed rear battery. Use it on ships that already have good front arcs. Sato MC30s are an exception to this clause. LMC80s, ISDs, and Vens all love it.

Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (TRCs) is one of the best turbolaser upgrades available. I absolutely adore this card since I am a Rebel main. Cr90s and MC30s, even Assault Frigates or Neb-Bs. They all can use it, but anything without redundant evades would probably rather have LTTs. The card itself is pretty self-explanatory and easy to use. Makes Cr90s super lethal with red and blue dice out of the side you will never have any blanks. Arquittens can also take it to good effect and it's possible to take it on anything with an evade, but some ships just would rather have something else. I know some people really like Needa TRCs (except on Arqs) for empire, but I think it's a trap.

XI7 Turbolasers (XI7s) is a phenomenal card. It is similar to HTTs in the fact that it reduces the effect of a defense token. Xi7s on the other hand do not have the extra stipulation of if this is the only token spent then the effect is null. Xi7s is always on. It works on all attacks you take including salvos. It pairs really well with large attacks and takes the pressure off of your accuracies since with Xi7s you should never accuracy a redirect. It will strip shields like nothing and if you have multiples in your fleet you will be hitting the hull very quickly. Xi7s love ISDs, MC30s, Recs, Vens, pretty much anything shooting consistent, large amounts of damage.

XX-9 Turbolasers (XX-9) is not a very frequently seen card. XX-9s are pretty straightforward and easy to use and the effect is good. You have to deal at least two damage to the hull for this card to work which is mostly going to happen towards the halfway point or end of the game. This card can be fun, but honestly, I've only ever used it with Dodonna to pull lots and lots of structurals. Other than using it with Dodonna I would probably urge you towards a different card.