Sentry Buster
| Sentry Buster | |
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| 300px | |
| Basic Information | |
| Health: | 2500 |
| Speed: | 187% |
| “ | Essentially a bomb on legs, the Sentry Buster will detect any sentry that’s dealing sustained damage to the Robot Horde, then initiate its deviously complicated protocol: run at the offending sentry and explode.
— Mann Vs. Machine publicity blurb
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The Sentry Buster is a specialized robot that appears in the Mann vs. Machine mode when a Sentry Gun has dealt significant damage (3000 damage or 15 kills by default) to the robot horde. It appears as a large pair of legs similar to a Demoman robot, but with a large pressure mine for a torso.
Once deployed, a Sentry Buster will make a beeline for an active Sentry Gun, but never a disposable Sentry . Upon reaching the target, it crouches and begins beeping. During this time, the Sentry Buster cannot be destroyed. A few seconds later, it detonates in a massive explosion guaranteed to level the offending Sentry and just about anything else within a three-Teleporter radius. Sentry Busters will behave in this way even if the target Sentry Gun is being hauled by its Engineer. It will, however, stand still for a few seconds to detonate once it gets close enough, allowing the Engineer to run to a safe distance while hauling his Sentry Gun.
If a Sentry Buster encounters an Engineer's Dispenser or Teleporter on its way to an Engineer's Sentry Gun, it will destroy the building in one hit before continuing on. If the Engineer has a Sentry Gun and disposable Sentry Gun deployed, the Sentry Buster will go for the large Sentry Gun, even if the Mini-Sentry is doing more damage. If the Sentry Gun is destroyed before the Sentry Buster can reach it, the Sentry Buster will run to the spot where the Sentry used to be and detonate.
As Sentry Busters take time to arm themselves, attentive Engineers can haul their Sentry out of the blast zone before it explodes. They are unlikely to have enough time to move a second building out of the way. Sentry Busters can be destroyed before they reach their objective, but this is not a simple task, with the Sentry Buster boasting 2500 health. If an Engineer hauling his building can outrun a Sentry Buster, the Sentry Buster will chase the Engineer indefinitely without detonating.
If there is more than one Engineer with a Sentry Gun on the field, multiple Sentry Busters may spawn at once, possibly with multiple Sentry Busters every sub-wave.
Destroyed Sentry Busters, whether by themselves or by the players, leave no money. A large cloud of dark grey smoke lasting many seconds remains after detonation, blocking visibility through it.
Contents
Elimination
If you are not able to see it, listen for a distinct clockwork style beeping sound giving away its position.
- Fluster. The most effective way to deal with sentry busters is to exploit the fact that they will consider a hauled sentry a valid target. You can decide where you want the sentry buster to detonate, that is, away from team buildings and players, by hauling your sentry and going to that safe place for dettonation. Once the sentry buster stops next to you it will begin its detonation sequence, head back to your Dispenser or wherever you had your Sentry Gun. If you use this method be sure to let your team know, so they don't continue to attack the sentry busters and can attack other robots instead. Keep in mind the large dark grey smoke cloud which the detonation will leave lasts more than a few seconds so try to avoid obscuring for eg any team Sniper positions.
- Honey pot. The second most reliable method is to wait and allow the buster to get to your Sentry Gun, then haul it away once the Sentry Buster stops next to your sentry (as soon as the feet stop stomping). If you use this method you need to move your Dispenser and teleporter first if they are in the blast radius (approx the width of three Teleporters) when the Sentry Buster is a few seconds away. Again there is a large smoke cloud left. This method is more complex than the one first listed, and can go wrong for eg if the team kills it and sets it off when you are not ready you can lose all building and die in the blast, or the team may kill it on its way to you and it may take out a 'safely out of the way' tele and Dispenser. Communicate with your team and tell them you can handle all sentry busters - if indeed you can.
- Uber. This method requires sacrificing the amazing and unique to Engies, instant build canteen option for ÜberCharges instead. Simply let the sentry buster come and activate your Canteen with an Übercharge buff when it stops and you and all your building will survive the blast. There is a maximum of three ÜberCharges per canteen, but no maximum number of sentry busters, so this method should be looked at as a plan B. It is possible to return to the kiosk to buy more ÜberCharges, however the more you spend on Sentry Buster defence the less critical Senrty upgrades you will have available in later waves. Instant build is a better canteen buff for engies because there are up to four per canteen so you can recover from successful busters four times and you are likely to lose your sentry at some point to rockets or demo grenades also so you can recover from that too. Remember to build a Dispenser and tele first if they were taken out before using the instant build. Put them all down anywhere ASAP and upgrade to level 3 using canteen then move them if you need to, as they rebuild instantly.
- KO. Kill it before it gets close, however, once killed, it will still detonate with full force and smoke. This is viable if there is enough team members attacking and not to many other robots or Giants to deal with. Sentry Busters can be airblasted up by Pyros (but not pushed back) and sapped by Spies to slow them down, and they are not immune to status effects like Jarate. The team is at the greatest advantage if they don't need to attack Sentry Busters at all and can concentrate on the Giants before they can get their power-ups.
Related achievements
Mann vs. Machievements
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Update history
August 15, 2012 Patch (Mann vs. Machine Update)
- The Sentry Buster was added to the game.
- Fixed Sentry Busters picking disposable buildings as valid targets.
- Fixed an instance of the Sentry Buster sound looping endlessly.
Bugs
- It is possible for a wave to end without killing the Sentry Buster, in which case it will disappear and cause its beeping sound to loop.
- Defenders will occasionally announce its presence as a giant robot instead of as a Sentry Buster.
Trivia
- The Sentry Buster is considered to be a giant Demoman wielding the Ullapool Caber. As a result, it shares animations and hitboxes with the giant Demoman robot (resulting in having invisible arm and head hitboxes) and appears to be holding the Ullapool Caber in first-person view to spectators, with any kills credited to it using the Ullapool Caber kill icon. As voice responses do not appear to be disabled for the Sentry Buster, it will use the giant Demoman robot's voice clips when speaking.
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