Anti-Sentry Buster strategy

Sentry Buster

This article is about Community Anti-Sentry Buster strategy.

General

• Stick together! Teamwork here is vital.
• You can attack the robot from afar, as well as with a melee weapon. It is only dangerous for the Engineer and his buildings.
• Communicate! Alert your teammates of the Sentry Buster’s whereabouts at all times.
• Never let your guard down. It can use a detour to get to the Engineer buildings.
• When fighting a Sentry Buster, be sure to have at least one Pyro with the Flamethrower or Degreaser equipped. An airblasting Pyro is the best counter to a Sentry Buster.
• When fighting a Sentry Buster use Power Up Canteens. The Critical Hit Boost will help in dealing maximum damage, while the Instant Teleport & Übercharge boosts will help for escape.
• If a Sentry Buster begins to detonate, get as far away as possible. Note that at this point it cannot be affected by knockback.

 Scout

• Using the Force-A-Nature will usually knock back the Sentry Buster at close range and will knock you back if you are airborne.
  • Be aware of where you knock the Sentry Buster to. You don't want to knock it straight into your Engineer's buildings.
• The Soda Popper's mini-crits can be activated any time you want to.
• Crit-a-Cola gives critical hits instead of mini-crits, allowing you to quickly deal high amounts of damage to Sentry Buster. The mini-crit vulnerability is pointless as Sentry Buster will not attack players directly.
• Sentry Busters are not affected by stuns from the Sandman, though you can upgrade it so players will do mini-crit damage.
• Mad Milk will still affect the movement speed of a Sentry Buster if upgraded.
• The Atomizer is an upgrade in terms of evasion. Watch out for your health in that case, though.
• The Fan O'War will allow you to tag the Sentry Buster for mini-crits. Use this to allow the rest of your team to focus down the Sentry Buster, but be careful--only one target can be marked for death at any time.

 Soldier

• If the Sentry Buster is too close to you and primed to detonate, you can rocket jump to escape.
• If you have a lot of teammates, consider equipping the Buff Banner to help deal some extra damage to the stronger Sentry Buster.
• Aim for the robot's feet to knock it back.
• A Critical Hit Boost will do wonders against the Sentry Buster.

 Pyro

• Your air blast is invaluable, so make sure to face the robot with full ammunition.
• An easy way to alert your teammates of a Sentry Buster’s presence is to light it on fire and make it more noticeable, as well as damage it.
• Critical flares shot from the Flare Gun and Axtinguisher hits do excruciating damage if you run out of flamethrower ammunition or if you don't use air blasts.

 Demoman

• Shooting grenades at the feet of the Sentry Buster will knock it back.
• Plant stickies near an Engineer’s nest. If the Sentry Buster gets near, detonate them to blast it back. Just make sure not to put them close enough that the robot can detonate.
• If you have the Scottish Resistance equipped, place one sticky near you, so you may escape when a nearby Sentry Buster is about to detonate.
• The Ullapool Caber is best used as a very last resort.

 Heavy

• Stand on the Dispenser and help defend the Engineer with your Minigun.
• Natascha wrecks the Sentry Buster with ease, slowing it down and dealing a lot of damage.
• The Buffalo Steak Sandvich may be of use in both dealing damage to the robot and allowing you to escape.
• The Gloves of Running Urgently can be used to escape the Sentry Buster if it detonates near you.
• The Fists of Steel may provide damage resistance against explosions, but it won't help you against the detonation of the Sentry Buster.

 Engineer

• Put your other buildings far away from your main Sentry Gun. This will allow them to stay intact even if your Sentry was destroyed.
• As soon as the Sentry Buster comes to your Sentry and starts preparing to detonate, grab your Sentry and run as fast as you can. Note that grabbing a Sentry too late will cause you and your Sentry to be destroyed.
  • If you are standing near an edge, try to fall off it with your Sentry Gun. If the fall is high enough, you can survive even if you grabbed your Sentry late during the Sentry Buster's crouch animation. Note that a horde of other robots may be under the cliff, so plan your retreat.
  • Place your Sentry near a corner, and once the Sentry Buster starts to detonate, pick up your Sentry and run around the corner. The wall will protect you and your Sentry from the Sentry Buster’s explosion.
    • If you are not near a corner or edge, remember to turn around when you haul your Sentry away. Unless you upgraded movement speed, you won't be able to escape the detonation zone if you back away from the Sentry Buster.
  • If there is a Teleporter entrance nearby, grab your Sentry and jump through it to quickly distance yourself from the Sentry Buster. If you have upgraded to two way Teleporters, you can continually jump from one to another with the Sentry Buster running between the two.
• There are locations in maps where Sentry Busters will take a while to reach, as they cannot jump. Know those locations so you can stall the Sentry Buster and time your escape.
  • Some custom maps have places which a Sentry Buster just can’t reach (for example on a roof). You can try to put your Sentry there. Note that there are no such locations on official maps.
• If no other robots are in the way, and if any of your other buildings and/or teammates are close to your Sentry Gun, pick up your Sentry and run toward the Sentry Buster. When it starts to detonate, run back to your nest and put your Sentry where it was before. If done correctly, the Sentry Buster will detonate without destroying anything.
• If there is more than one Engineer on the map, you should place your main Sentry Guns away from each other to prevent a single Sentry Buster from destroying all of them.
• Wrangling your Sentry will not shield it from the explosion, though using an Übercharge Canteen will.

 Medic

• Do not attack the Sentry Buster if there are still robots attacking your teammates. Concentrate on healing them to avoid a complete loss.
• Don’t hesitate to use your ÜberCharge in dangerous situations on the Engineer or yourself.
• If facing a Sentry Buster alone, their lack of retaliation makes them a good way to fill up your ÜberCharge with an Übersaw.

 Sniper

• While Sentry Busters have hitboxes for heads, they are extremely hard to target, and it's best to use bodyshots or melee attacks.
• The best and most effective means of helping your team would be to throw Jarate on a Sentry Buster.
  • In particular, the Bushwacka can wreak havoc on a Jarated Sentry Buster.

 Spy

• Sapping the Sentry Buster is your primary focus. Make sure to sap it as soon as your teammates can attack it effectively.
• Backstabbing the Sentry Buster can be done only with the Armor Penetration, as they are considered Giant Robots.