Turbolaser / Legends The turbolaser was the immensely scaled - up version of the blaster and laser cannon . These weapons were generally mounted on rotating turrets , which were commonly installed in banks on capital ships , space stations and orbital facilities . Some immobile variants , like those housed within defense towers of the city of Iziz , were used on the ground . Agrocite , an extremely rare ore that was found only on Khorm and Simocadia , was known to greatly enhance a turbolaser ' s destructive power . Mirkanite was also used in the production of heavy turbolasers . Features . The turbolaser was a heavy laser cannon equipped with large banks of capacitors , allowing it to build up and store far more powerful energy bursts than a standard cannon . They also helped power the galven coil s in the barrels of turbolasers . First , a particle beam was generated in the manner standard for blasters and laser cannons . Then power was increased by guiding this laser cannon particle beam through another stream of energized Tibanna Gas ( besides the one used in generating the initial beam ) . The extra capacitors in a turbolaser that stored huge amounts of raw energy then contributed to the beam by energizing it further as it moved to the turbolaser ' s barrel . The resulting beam carried three or more times the energy of a standard laser cannon beam . It then passed through a set of galven coils located in the turbolaser ' s barrel , further increasing the beam ' s power , and allowing it to pierce the defenses of heavily protected targets . Because these weapons required extra time to build up energy for their powerful blasts , they tended to have a slightly slower rate of fire than their weaker brethren ( usually around one to two seconds between volleys , depending on the type of turbolaser and what power setting it was on ) . The risk of overheating was high due to this massive energy buildup , and many turbolaser models were protected with complex cryosystems and a powerful cooling sleeve on the barrel . Turbolasers were the primary weapons of capital ships . They were used for ship - to - ship combat or , in some cases , planetary bombardment . A single blast from a turbolaser could completely incinerate a fully shielded starfighter ; however , due to their slow turret traverse and an equally slow period of charging and cooling , turbolasers proved highly ineffective against fighters because fighters were too fast and small for a good target lock due to a slower rate of fire than point - defense cannon s . Turbolaser turrets installed on the first Death Star were unable to hit the nimble Rebel starfighters that were attacking the station during the Battle of Yavin , although they could hit starfighters that were following predictable trajectories , such as straight lines . Thousands of years earlier , turbolaser batteries were used against the Beast Riders of Onderon by Queen Amanoa ' s contingent of Onderonian Wave gunner s . These batteries were mounted inside the defense towers that lined the walls of Iziz , Onderon ' s single great city . Along with ion cannons , the turbolaser batteries were designed to combat the flying beasts used as war mounts by the Beast Riders . A twin turbolaser cannon on a " Munificent " - class star frigate was powerful enough to melt an ice moon measuring 1 , 000 kilometers in diameter , or pierce the shields of a 10 - kilometer - wide Grade III battle station , and four star frigates could easily outgun a " Venator " - class Star Destroyer . Commonly , turbolasers were arrayed along the length of capital warship hulls and linked to advanced fire - control systems to coordinate the cannon batteries for sustained , organized volleys of fire . The Grand Army of the Republic deployed turbolaser cannons mounted atop a heavy all - terrain drive unit during the Clone Wars . These SPHA - T walkers proved instrumental in taking down numerous " Lucrehulk " - class core ships during the First Battle of Geonosis , and these turbolasers were later installed inside the hangar bays of " Venator " - class Star Destroyers for effective ship - to - ship broadsides . The Confederacy of Independent Systems created an upgraded turbolaser known as the " Agrocite cannon , " which used rare Agrocite to greatly enhance the cannon ' s power . The cannon was so powerful it could destroy a " Venator " - class Star Destroyer in a single shot . Three such cannons were used during the Battle of Khorm . Once strictly controlled by Imperial law , turbolaser technology advanced following the Galactic Civil War when New Republic – contracted military designers created the quick - recharge turbolaser . This variant proved effective during the Yuuzhan Vong War . Following the war , a variety of long - range turbolasers were produced , with an even longer range than the standard type , though at the expense of greater power drain ; even when mounted on an " Imperial II " - class Star Destroyer , the drain was noticeable . This limited their deployment to a number of Hapan Battle Dragon s and the Star Destroyer " Anakin Solo " . Darth Caedus fired the turbolasers on the latter during the Battle of Kashyyyk , causing forest fires on the planet ' s surface . General classifications . Below are different general classifications of various turbolaser models :