Turret hub

The Turret Hub was the Brotherhood of Nod's solution to the issues created by centralized base defenses in the Second Tiberium War. To maximize effectiveness and survivability, Nod scientists unveiled a four-component design for the Brotherhood's defenses: three turrets linked to a central control hub.
== Background ==
Unlike GDI's Watchtowers, which contained the fire control and targeting algorithms for its gun within itself, Nod pioneered the usage of a decentralized system that separated the turret from the command module. This conceptual central command module eventually came into reality in the form of turret hubs, which handle the operation of three attached turrets. To enhance their calculations and battlefield assessment, they were also equipped with modern sensors, not unlike the G-Tech sensors installed on GDI Pitbulls, to root out invisible enemies. This technology appeared to be a derivative of that used on Mobile Sensor Arrays in the Second Tiberium War.
Turret hubs were also capable of rebuilding and replacing any of its attached turrets in the event they were destroyed. However, the hub required a few seconds to complete this process, during which the vulnerability posed by the loss of a turret could be exploited by the enemy. The system's reliance on the hub also meant that, in the event the hub was destroyed, the turrets would be useless and would fall apart too.
The Brotherhood of Nod's engineers integrated this system into three of their defensive structures deployed in the Third Tiberium War:
* Shredder Turrets, which shot out shrapnel at lethal velocities to eliminate infantry.
* Laser Turrets, whose beams were designed to pierce enemy armor.
* SAM Turrets, who were designed to engage incoming aircraft.
Only the Brotherhood's iconic and feared "Isis"-class Obelisk of Light alone did not utilize this system.
Due to the ever-growing needs for mobile warfare presented in the Incursion War and the Fourth Tiberium War, the hub-based system was retired.
== Upgrades ==
	Quad turrets (Any turret hub) 	This upgrade places a fourth small turret directly on the hub, adding 33% more firepower (Ctrl+S). 	Purchasable at any Operations Center for a cost of $1000 and takes 0:30 to research.
	Charged particle beams (Shredder turret hub) 	This upgrade changes the Shredder's weapon from a shotgun-like round to a high-energy green beam (Ctrl+S).	Purchasable at Black Hand Tech Lab for a cost of $1000 and takes 0:30 to research.
	Supercharged particle beams (Shredder turret hub)	This upgrade changes the Shredder's weapon from a shotgun-like round to a white high-energy beam (Ctrl+S).	Purchasable at Marked of Kane Tech Lab for a cost of $3000 and takes 1:00 to research.
	Spitfire laser capacitors (Laser turret hub) 	Significantly increases the damage of each turret (Ctrl+S). 	Purchasable at Brotherhood of Nod Tech Lab for a cost of $2500 and takes 1.15 to research.
	Tiberium core missiles (SAM turret hub) 	The power of weaponized Tiberium greatly enhances the effectiveness of SAM missiles (Ctrl+D). 	Purchasable at any Tech Lab for a cost of $2500 and takes 1:15 to research.
== Game Structure ==
Turret hubs are an additional structure that comes with the construction of a Shredder, Laser, or SAM Turret system. The hub is first placed onto the field to determine the general location of the turrets, and the specific location of the weapons themselves are determined afterward. However, the placement of the turrets are limited to a certain radius around the hub, which prevents them from being too far away.
The hub is typically where operations are performed if the player wants to interact with the turrets: selling the hub will destroy the turrets, depowering the hub will also turn off its attached turrets, and repairing the hub will repair any damaged turrets in addition to the hub itself. If the hub itself is at full health but a turret is damaged, the hub will take an infinitesimal amount of damage to allow it (and by extension the turrets) to be repaired. Note that it is possible to cease repairs via using the repair tool on a turret, but to initiate repairs the hub must be interacted with.
Since each turret acts on its own independent ammunition, reload time, and range, the Brotherhood's hub-based systems are more flexible and can cover more ground than their enemies' counterparts. Since each system has three turrets, they can also overwhelm enemies through sheer numbers (especially if multiple systems and their turrets are built close together). With these options, the player can choose to either spread out the turrets to cover more ground, or to group them together to maximize damage.
However, this is offset by how each turret is individually weaker, both by firepower and hitpoints. While they will rebuild themselves if destroyed, it takes some time for them to be fully operational again, during which the hub is vulnerable and its firepower reduced. The hub itself more resilient to damage than its attached turrets, but not by much, and generally damage to it should be avoided if possible.
Nod commanders also have to designate the location of the turret hub in addition to the manual selection of the location of its three turrets, as opposed to GDI and Scrin defenses where only the weapon's location is needed, which can cause minor delays.
In Kane's Wrath, the Quad Turrets upgrade can be researched at an online Operations Center for $1000. This affords the hub itself an extra turret with no extra cost (aside from the upgrade itself), and gives the hub itself a method of defense as well as bolstering the system's overall firepower. However, it also opens the question of how close the hub (and by extension its turret) should be to the front lines to maximize damage.
== Changelog ==
*Tiberium Wars patch 1.05: turret hubs now appear unstealthed when their turrets fire while under the effects of a Disruption Tower
*Kane's Wrath patch 1.01: Marked of Kane Shredder turret hub can now fire when upgraded with quad turrets
== Trivia ==
* There has been some inconsistency regarding the presence and connection of hubs throughout the campaign.
** In Outback, the turrets were disconnected from their hubs (despite the latter being present).
** The fortifications around Temple Prime saw many individual Laser Turrets and SAM Turrets embedded into the fortress walls, with no attendant hub.
* The audio that plays upon a hub's selection is identical to that of its corresponding turrets.
* On occasion only one or two turrets have been attached to a hub, even though the placement of all three is required for them to deploy in normal gameplay.
== See Also ==
* Shredder Turret, anti-infantry hub turret
* Laser Turret, anti-armor hub turret
* SAM Turret, anti-aircraft hub turret
Category:Tiberium Wars support structures