Terra Invicta Point Defense Laser Guide — PD Stats & Ship Design
Point defense lasers are the shield that keeps your fleet alive. Without adequate PD coverage, a single alien missile salvo can wipe out a battleship worth 40 megacredits. This guide demystifies every PD weapon in Terra Invicta: IR, Visible, UV, X-Ray, and E-Beamer variants, their stats, interception mechanics, and how to allocate ship slots for maximum survivability. Whether you are fitting out your first escort or optimizing a dreadnought, the principles here will ensure your ships survive to fight another day.
Last updated: July 5, 2026
Point Defense Weapon Stats — Every PD Type Compared
Point defense weapons in Terra Invicta come in several varieties, each tuned for a different tech era and threat profile. The fundamental stat for PD is fire rate: a faster fire rate means the turret can engage more incoming missiles per second, which matters enormously when an alien cruiser launches a salvo of 12 missiles simultaneously. Power draw is the second critical stat, because PD turrets compete with offensive weapons for reactor output. A destroyer with a 600 MW fusion reactor cannot run 3 UV PD turrets (900 MW total) without shutting down its spinal mount weapon. Always calculate total power draw before finalizing a design.
Range determines how many seconds of fire your PD gets before the missile impacts. An IR PD turret with 200 km range has roughly 60 seconds to destroy a missile moving at 3 km/s. A UV PD turret with 500 km range has 160 seconds against the same missile, which is why UV PD is so dramatically more effective despite having similar per-hit damage to Visible PD. More range equals more interception attempts equals higher kill probability.
| Weapon | Power Draw | Range | Fire Rate | Tracking | Slot Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IR PD Laser | 40 MW | 200 km | Fast (0.5 s) | Excellent | Hull (turret) | The entry-level PD weapon. Low power draw makes it ideal for early escorts with fission reactors. Tracks and destroys most early-game alien missiles reliably. Loses effectiveness against faster alien missiles in the mid-game. |
| Visible PD Laser | 120 MW | 350 km | Fast (0.4 s) | Excellent | Hull (turret) | The mid-game PD standard. Visible wavelength provides better range and damage than IR. Requires a fusion reactor to sustain fire. Two Visible PD turrets per destroyer is the recommended loadout for 2032-2040 fleets. |
| UV PD Laser | 300 MW | 500 km | Very Fast (0.3 s) | Excellent | Hull (turret) | The late-game PD gold standard. Extremely high tracking speed and damage. Intercepts alien plasma torpedoes that lower-tier PD cannot touch. Requires fusion or antimatter reactor. Mount at least 3 per battleship. |
| E-Beamer PD | 80 MW | 250 km | Medium (0.8 s) | Good | Hull (turret) | Electron beam weapon adapted for point defense. Lower fire rate than laser PD but deals more damage per hit. Effective against heavily armored alien missiles that laser PD struggles with. Good supplemental PD on cruisers. |
| X-Ray PD Laser | 500 MW | 600 km | Very Fast (0.25 s) | Excellent | Hull (turret) | Endgame PD. Intercepts virtually any missile or torpedo in the game. Requires antimatter reactor. Only mount on dreadnoughts and Titans where power budget allows. One X-Ray PD turret can defend an entire battleship formation. |
Missile Interception — What PD Can and Cannot Kill
Not all missiles are created equal, and not all PD can intercept all missiles. The key variables are missile speed and hit points. A missile moving at 10 km/s gives your PD turrets very little time to acquire, track, and destroy it. A missile with 120 HP requires multiple PD hits even if each hit lands. The interception table below shows how many hits each PD type needs to destroy each common missile type, and which PD types simply cannot engage certain targets.
The most important takeaway from this table is that IR PD becomes obsolete by the mid-game. Alien plasma torpedoes and dreadnought missiles move too fast for IR turrets to track, meaning your IR PD will fire harmlessly as the missile sails past. If you are still using IR PD in 2038, you will lose ships. Research Visible lasers by 2032 and UV lasers by 2038 at the latest. X-Ray PD is a luxury that only becomes necessary in the endgame against alien dreadnought missile swarms.
| Missile Type | Speed | HP | IR PD | Visible PD | UV PD | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alien Scout Missile | 3 km/s | Low (15 HP) | 2 hits | 1 hit | 1 hit | The most common alien missile in the early game. IR PD handles these easily. No special counter needed beyond standard PD coverage. |
| Alien Cruiser Missile | 5 km/s | Medium (40 HP) | 4 hits | 2 hits | 1 hit | Appears in the mid-game. IR PD struggles to kill these before impact due to speed and HP. Upgrade to Visible PD by 2035 or risk losing destroyers to missile saturation. |
| Alien Plasma Torpedo | 8 km/s | High (80 HP) | Cannot intercept | 4 hits | 2 hits | The most dangerous alien projectile. Moves too fast for IR PD to track. Only UV or X-Ray PD can reliably intercept these. A single unintercepted plasma torpedo can destroy a cruiser. |
| Human Nuclear Missile | 4 km/s | Medium (35 HP) | 3 hits | 2 hits | 1 hit | Used by rival human factions. PD coverage is essential in faction warfare. A single nuke that gets through your PD screen can wipe out a battleship. |
| Alien Dreadnought Missile | 10 km/s | Very High (120 HP) | Cannot intercept | Cannot intercept | 3 hits | Endgame alien missile. Only UV or X-Ray PD can intercept these, and even then multiple hits are required. Fleet-level PD saturation is mandatory. |
Ship Slot Allocation — Balancing PD with Offense
The central tension in ship design is that every hull slot devoted to PD is a slot not devoted to offensive weapons, armor, or radiators. A destroyer with 7 hull slots cannot afford to fill all 7 with PD turrets; it would have no offensive capability and would be useless in combat. The standard allocation for a mid-game destroyer is 2 PD turrets, 1 spinal mount weapon (nose slot), 2 offensive hull weapons, 1 armor module, and 1 radiator. This gives the destroyer enough PD to survive missile salvos while still contributing meaningful damage to fleet engagements.
Capital ships have more flexibility. A battleship with 14 hull slots can comfortably carry 5 PD turrets, 6 offensive weapons, 2 armor modules, and 1 radiator while still having room for a second radiator if needed. The temptation with capital ships is to minimize PD in favor of maximum offensive weapons. Resist this. A battleship with only 2 PD turrets will be focused by alien missile fire and destroyed, losing 40 MC of investment. Five PD turrets is the minimum for a battleship that expects to survive prolonged combat.
Fleet-level PD is another consideration. When multiple ships travel in formation, their PD turrets can engage missiles targeting any ship in the formation, not just themselves. This means a screen of 4 destroyers with 2 PD turrets each provides 8 PD turrets of coverage for the entire formation, including any cruisers or battleships in the center. This is why the destroyer wolfpack doctrine is so effective: the wolfpack generates enough collective PD to intercept even heavy missile salvos while concentrating offensive fire on a single target. Always design ships with fleet context in mind, not in isolation.
Design Trade-offs — When PD Is Not the Answer
The PD vs. Armor Decision
PD and armor serve different defensive roles. PD intercepts incoming missiles and energy weapons before they hit your ship. Armor absorbs damage from kinetic weapons and any missiles that get through your PD screen. A ship with max PD and no armor will be destroyed by a single railgun shot. A ship with max armor and no PD will be destroyed by a single missile salvo. The correct approach is to invest in both, weighted toward the threat profile you expect to face. Against alien fleets that rely heavily on missiles, prioritize PD. Against human faction fleets that favor railguns and coilguns, prioritize armor. In mixed-threat environments, split the difference.
The PD vs. Radiator Decision
PD turrets draw significant power and generate waste heat. A UV PD turret draws 300 MW and requires corresponding radiator capacity to sustain fire. If you mount 4 UV PD turrets on a cruiser (1200 MW draw) without adequate radiators, the turrets will overheat and shut down after 20-30 seconds of continuous fire, leaving your ship defenseless for the rest of the engagement. Always calculate the total power draw of all weapons including PD and ensure your radiator capacity exceeds it by at least 20 percent. If you cannot afford the radiator slots, downgrade to a lower-tier PD rather than running high-tier PD without cooling.
The Fleet Screen Doctrine
The most efficient PD strategy is to concentrate PD on dedicated screen ships rather than spreading it across every ship in the fleet. A fleet of 4 battleships with 4 PD turrets each (16 total) is less effective than a fleet of 3 battleships with 2 PD turrets each (6 total) plus 4 escort screen ships with 4 PD turrets each (16 total). The screen ships provide the same total PD coverage, but the battleships have 2 extra slots each for offensive weapons. The trade-off is that screen ships are fragile and will be destroyed in heavy engagements, but losing a 4 MC escort is far preferable to losing a 40 MC battleship. Build dedicated PD screen ships in groups of 4-6 and keep them formation-locked to your capital ships.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many PD turrets does each ship class need?
The minimum viable PD coverage depends on the ship class and the era. Escorts need 1-2 IR PD turrets early on, but these become inadequate by 2032. Destroyers should carry 2 Visible PD turrets as a baseline, with a third if you expect heavy missile engagement. Cruisers need 3-4 PD turrets because their larger profile attracts more missiles. Battleships should mount 4-6 PD turrets: any fewer and alien missile salvos will eventually saturate your defenses. Dreadnoughts and Titans can afford 6-8 PD turrets and should use them, as these ships are priority targets for alien missile fire. The general rule is that PD should occupy roughly 30-40 percent of your hull weapon slots.
Is E-Beamer PD better than laser PD for point defense?
E-Beamer PD and laser PD serve different roles and are not directly interchangeable. E-Beamer PD fires more slowly but deals significantly more damage per hit. This makes it excellent against heavily armored missiles that require multiple laser hits to destroy, such as alien plasma torpedoes. However, its slower fire rate means it struggles against swarms of weaker missiles because it cannot cycle fast enough to engage every incoming threat. The optimal approach is to mix E-Beamer PD with laser PD on the same ship: the lasers handle the missile swarm while the E-beamer picks off the high-HP threats. On cruisers with 10 hull slots, a common loadout is 2 Visible PD lasers plus 1 E-Beamer PD, leaving 7 slots for offensive weapons, armor, and radiators.
Does point defense work against alien coilguns and railguns?
No, point defense lasers cannot intercept kinetic projectiles. Coilguns and railguns fire solid slugs at extremely high velocity that are too small and too fast for PD lasers to track or destroy. Only energy weapons (lasers, plasma) and missiles can be intercepted by PD. To defend against kinetic weapons, you must rely on armor and evasive maneuvering. This is why a balanced ship design includes both PD for missile defense and heavy armor for kinetic defense. Players who over-invest in PD and neglect armor will find their ships shredded by alien railgun fire even though no missiles get through. The reverse is also true: armor-heavy ships with no PD will be overwhelmed by missile salvos. Balance is essential.