Sir We Have an Orc Problem Sir, We Have an Orc Problem Turret Tier List

How to read this tier list

Tier lists for Sir, We Have an Orc Problem go stale fast if they treat total damage as the only score. Orc waves behave like fluids: they spread on open ground, compress in chokes, and leak when your kill zone ends too early. A tower that tops the post-mission chart on a funnel map may look mediocre on a wide approach. This list ranks all seven buildable turrets - Gunner, Flamethrower, Mortar, Cannon, Laser, Tesla Coil, and Grenade Launcher - by role value across a typical full-game clear, with notes on when to move a tower up or down a tier.

Tiers used here:

• S - Defines your strategy on most maps; meta upgrades here pay off immediately.
• A - Strong specialist or backbone tower; weak only with bad placement or missing unlocks.
• B - Situational or setup-dependent; still required for specific finishes or leak coverage.

Pair this page with Upgrade Priority, Choke Points, and the Turrets Hub for placement and spending detail.

Quick tier snapshot

Tier	Turret	One-line reason
S	Flamethrower	Softens entire streams at chokes; burn scales with exposure
S	Tesla Coil	Rear cleanup: chain lightning, stun, straggler deletion
A	Laser	Sustained beam through kill box; breaks 3.2 wall when unlocked
A	Grenade Launcher	Forward slow plus damage amp; strong Support on narrow chokes
A	Cannon	Piercing burst finish on clumped, pre-weakened hordes
A	Mortar	Reliable lobbed splash when orcs stack behind softening
B	Gunner	Essential early and for leaks; outscaled without caps and chokes

These ranks assume you invest in tower-count and damage nodes for each type. A Gunner with six slots and heavy fire-rate upgrades climbs toward A on maps with long straight lanes. A Cannon without choke softening drops toward B on spread waves.

S tier - Flamethrower

Flamethrowers earn S tier because they solve two problems at once: they reduce HP on many orcs and they reduce how dense the wave feels when orcs stack in fire. Every enemy that passes through a well-aimed cone takes burn damage over time. On choke-heavy maps, players routinely see Flamethrowers outperform burst towers in total damage - not because burn always wins head-to-head, but because every orc gets tagged while Mortars and Cannons only punish clusters.

Community threads often call Flamethrowers overpowered after late missions. That reaction usually means placement worked: two passes through fire before AOE finish is stronger than the UI suggests. Nerfs to tick rate or duration shift this tier slightly, but the role stays S as long as funnels exist.

When Flamethrower is not S: open maps with no natural choke, or levels where orcs split before reaching your forward cone. Add Mortars or shift Gunners forward instead of copying funnel layouts blindly.

See the dedicated Flamethrower page for cone placement, double-pass setups, and upgrade timing.

A tier - Laser

Lasers earn A tier (rising to S on funnel-heavy 3.x maps) because they solve the 3.2 speed wall that stops Gunner-only accounts. Unlocked mid-tree, beam turrets delete compressed clumps behind Flamethrower softening with sustained penetration instead of burst. Community launch guides consistently recommend buying the Laser unlock before pushing stage 3.2 again.

Lasers drop toward B on wide open maps where orcs never compress - same geometry rule as Cannons. Without burn partners they tick on thin streams while leaks walk past. Read the dedicated Laser page for arc placement and unlock timing.

A tier - Cannon

Cannons sit at A because they are the cleanest finish tool. Explosive shots with pierce punish groups already softened by fire or mortar lobs. They do not replace softening - they convert it into burst clears. On final-wave kill boxes, a Cannon line behind Flamethrowers deletes the compressed horde that would otherwise walk through insufficient DPS.

Cannons drop below A when placed ahead of softening or on maps where orcs never clump. Raw explosion radius cannot match Flamethrower exposure on a thin stream. Invest in pierce and damage meta nodes before judging a Cannon underperforming.

Compare directly with Mortar: Cannons favor forward kill zones with line-of-sight; Mortars favor arcing over obstacles. Many clears run both at A tier in different rows.

A tier - Mortar

Mortars lob splash damage into packed waves. They excel when orcs pause or stack - classic choke behavior - and when terrain blocks direct fire. Mortar total damage often looks lower than Flamethrower totals on post-mission screens because splash hits fewer individual orcs until the wave compresses. That is a measurement issue, not a useless tower.

Mortar stays A on most campaign maps once you unlock enough lobs and rear-line slots. It slips toward B on fast leak maps where you need immediate single-target DPS from Gunners instead of delayed shells.

Upgrade mortar damage and shell count through Upgrade Priority before swapping them out for more Cannons.

B tier - Gunner (with important caveats)

Gunner is B in late-tier role ranking only. It is still mandatory early: first unlock, cheapest scaling, and the best answer to runners leaking past burn. No serious run skips Gunners entirely. B means other towers define your win condition while Gunners patch holes.

Gunners climb to A-tier feel when you max count and fire rate and the map offers long exposure lanes. They fall to B when orcs outscale single-target DPS without choke support. Treat Gunner as insurance and early-game backbone, not the tower you stack for final mission charts.

Read Gunner for nest placement and when to stop investing beyond leak coverage.

S tier - Tesla Coil (Cleanup)

Tesla Coil earns S tier for Cleanup because late maps leak on stragglers and split paths even when forward burn and burst rows report healthy totals. Rapid 360-degree attacks, chain lightning, and stun cover rear tiles where line-aimed towers miss curved segments. Place Tesla behind your main kill zone - not at the choke mouth - so Support and Power rows keep their forward tiles.

Tesla rarely tops post-mission DPS charts. That is correct for the role. S tier here means leak prevention and achievement credit on elemental stages like Elemental Carnage on 4.1, where Tesla pairs with Flamethrower burn and Cryo Beam freeze. See the dedicated Tesla Coil page and Tower Archetypes Cleanup section.

When Tesla is not S: early campaign before rear leaks matter, or maps where Gunner nests already cover every angle with fewer meta nodes.

A tier - Grenade Launcher (Support)

Grenade Launcher sits at A tier Support on choke-heavy maps, dropping toward B on wide open scripts where Flamethrower burn exposure still dominates. Forward lobs apply slow and damage taken amplification before Power rows fire - stacking with burn instead of replacing it.

Grenade Launcher climbs when speed-per-level ramps outrun burn ticks on narrow funnels. Some layouts favor Grenade pure CC over Flamethrower for slow plus amp even when burn charts stay higher. Place in front of kill zones at the choke mouth; rear slow is wasted on stragglers that belong to Tesla Cleanup.

Read the dedicated Grenade Launcher page for forward placement and Flamethrower comparison tables.

Synergy tiers: combinations beat solo ranks

The strongest layouts rarely run one tower type. Common high-value triads:

1. Flamethrower forward + Mortar mid + Cannon rear - softening, stack, finish.
2. Grenade Launcher at mouth + Flamethrower on bend + Tesla rear - double Support, Cleanup leaks.
3. Double Flamethrower pass + Gunner leak line - thin hordes before burst towers fire.
4. Gunner early transition - sell or reposition into choke setup once unlocks allow.

Active abilities add spike tier without changing turret ranks. Bombing Runs fired into a Flamethrower-thinned stack behave like a temporary S-tier burst. Time abilities with turret peaks, not instead of fixing placement.

Map and upgrade modifiers

Move tiers mentally when these conditions apply:

• Missing tower-count unlocks - every turret drops one tier until you can place enough copies.
• Mirrored or reversed flow - Flamethrower cones need rebuild; Gunners cover new leak paths.
• Open field scripts - Mortar and Cannon rise; Flamethrower may drop to A.
• Heavy economy investment - faster mid-run tower buys mimic extra count tiers.

Patch awareness

Mumpitz Games has tuned Flamethrower tick rate and burn duration in public builds through Aug 2026. Tier roles shift slightly when burn gets weaker or chokes get wider. Re-check this list after major patches, but expect Flamethrower to remain S on funnel maps, Tesla to remain S for Cleanup on leak-prone 4.x stages, and Gunner to remain essential day one.

Related pages

• Turrets Hub - overview of all seven towers
• Tesla Coil - S-tier cleanup guide
• Grenade Launcher - A/B Support ranking detail
• Flamethrower - S-tier softening guide
• Laser - 3.2 wall beam unlock
• Cannon - pierce finish setups
• Mortar - lobbed splash placement
• Gunner - early DPS and leak control
• Tower Archetypes - Power, Support, Cleanup layers
• Choke Points - geometry that makes tiers matter
• Upgrade Priority - meta order for caps and damage
• Bombing Runs - ability spikes with AOE lines