Vector TD2 Analysis

[Amadameus]

WARNING - I am an amateur and do not assert that my 'analysis' is absolute fact or anything even close. I am just trying to provide a stepping-point for others.

Vector TD2 is an awesome game, but a truly unfortunate part of the game is that it offers precious little in the way of data. Compared to Onslaught, it provides almost none.

Let's begin with the original weapons:
Green Laser 1 - fires a constant beam that deals damage over time. This laser is very efficient, as it does not deal excess damage (a 200dmg blast to destroy a 50hp vectoid) and is able to quickly cycle between enemies. This makes it ideal for mopping up vectoids with remnants of health left, dealing killing blows in quick succession. It is less effective at dealing damage to fresh vectoids, because it can only deal damage to one vectoid at a time, and has a rather limited range. Using it as a primary damage-dealer can mean that vectoids will eventually be able to move out of range before enough damage has been dealt.
--Role: Cleanup.
--Recommended position: Near the end of the path, where vectoids are already heavily damaged
--Recommended target: Weak
--Cost: $100, $50/upgrade
--Damage: 22, +10/upgrade
--Range: 70m, +3/upgrade
Red Refractor - fires a single blast that damages one enemy and splashes damage to enemies nearby. I am still unsure how much damage is 'splashed' to enemies around, or to what degree the proximity or number of enemies within splash radius affects the splash damage - it appears to be half the initial blast damage, but I cannot confirm this. The graphics of the splash damage is several smaller red blasts radiating from the initial target. This may have significance, but I am also unsure.
The refractor does its best work when vectoids are clumped together, which allows it to damage them all at once. It has slightly better range than the green laser, but is unable to fire continuously and acquires targets with some delay.
--Role: Primary damage-dealer in early game
--Recommended position: Near a choke point or grouping of vectoids
--Recommended target: Close, target locking ON
--Cost: $200, $100/upgrade
--Damage: 110, +49/upgrade
--Range: 80m, +4/upgrade
Purple Power 1
Honestly, I find the entire purple tier of weapons to be ineffective. They seem very slow in firing and prohibitively expensive. The red tier, especially the Red Rockets, has a (seemingly) better damage-to-cost ratio.
Blue Rays 1 - fires four lasers that slow enemies and deal damage to them. These lasers can all be focused on a single vectoid if it is the only target, allowing this weapon to be quite powerful against sole enemies.
This turret's greatest asset shows itself later on in the game, when its damage is negligible. It slows enemies that it fires upon, increasing the time they spend within other turrets' range. This seems like a boon, but it can also be harmful - becoming used to the slowed vectoids may make escaped vectoids (that have broken through the main defense) harder to manage because of their seemingly increased speed.
I am unsure if this turret's slowing ability increases with its upgrades, but in the endgame the damage it deals is little to none, and so I use it at Level 1 simply to slow vectoids.
--Role: Slow down vectoids, magnify damage dealt by other turrets
--Recommended position: Near a choke point or grouping of turrets
--Recommended target: It always targets the fastest vectoids
--Cost: $300, $150/upgrade
--Damage: 500, +227/upgrade
--Range: 70m, +3/upgrade


Later on I will be able to provide cost/damage ratios for the turrets (using my understanding of the way they deal damage, the Red Refractor for example) and examples of how to work with them in pairs.