Sentry Gun

“

How am I going to stop some big mean mother hubbard from tearing me a structurally superfluous new behind? The answer: use a gun. And if that don't work... use more gun. — The Engineer

”

The Sentry Gun (sometimes known as a "Turret", "Sentry" or abbreviated to "SG") is a building that can be constructed by an Engineer and functions as an automated turret which fires upon any enemy who walks into its line of sight. The Sentry Gun will always target and fire on the closest enemy player or building, provided they are within firing range and in line of sight of the Sentry Gun (not behind a wall, etc).

The Sentry Gun costs 130 Metal to build, 200 Metal to upgrade to level two, and an additional 200 to upgrade to the third and final level. With each upgrade level the Sentry Gun becomes more powerful, gaining machine guns, rockets and the ability to take more damage. The firing range remains constant regardless of level.

The Sentry Gun's ammo may be replenished with your own metal by hitting it with your Wrench. Each bullet reloaded costs 1 metal and each rocket reloaded costs 2 metal.

When placing a Sentry Gun, the limit of its range is represented by a 3D sphere of your team color. A Sentry Gun that is being constructed will have its health increase gradually until it reaches its maximum health upon completion. The Sentry Gun rotates 90 degrees to patrol the area, but is capable of rotating 360 degrees to lock on to a target. This takes a brief moment however, which may allow faster foes to slip past its range. The Sentry Gun can also be manually rotated to face a different direction before you build it: When the blueprint is shown, using the alternate fire button (default key: MOUSE2) will rotate the blueprints counter-clockwise by 90 degrees.

Sentry Guns will not fire upon enemy Spies that are cloaked or disguised. Sentry Guns will also not fire upon enemies in it's range if the enemy is behind cover - this cover includes the Engineer's Dispenser. Sentry Guns are also unable to fire if an enemy Spy attaches an Electro Sapper to it or while they are being upgraded/built. A destroyed Sentry Gun leaves 60 Metal worth of pieces, which can also be picked up by other classes as Ammo.

Unlike most other weapons, the Sentry Gun's weapons do not get affected with damage falloff from range nor can it gain criticals. It is possible however, to make the Sentry Gun deal Mini-Crit attacks and damage if its target is coated in Jarate or if the Engineer who built the Sentry Gun is close to a Soldier with an active Buff Banner, boosting the damage of each bullet to 22.

Also included in the Engineer Update is an unlockable Pistol replacement, The Wrangler, which allows the Engineer to take direct control of his Sentry Gun by 'marking' targets manually. Doing so shuts down the Sentry Gun's automated target-lock system, but diverts the excess power from the targeting system into speeding up its firing rate, effectively doubling the damage-per-second of the Sentry Gun. Also, the Wrangler provides the Sentry Gun with a protective shield which absorbs two-thirds of enemy fire while the Wrangler is active. Once the Engineer switches away from the Wrangler, however, his Sentry Gun is left defenseless for 3 seconds while its auto-lock targeting computer reboots.

Icon for a hauled item being destroyed via the Engineer's death.

Since the Engineer Update, players are able to pick up and move their buildings around. An Engineer carrying his Sentry Gun moves 25% slower and cannot fire or change weapons. However, a redeployed Sentry Gun retains its previous level and automatically sets up twice as fast. Engineers do not lose any ammo or metal by moving Sentry Guns. If the Engineer is killed while hauling his Sentry Gun it is automaticaly destroyed along with him, giving a notification in the kill icon area of the screen. Sentry Guns under the effects of an Electro Sapper cannot be picked up.

If a Soldier has The Black Box, The Battalion's Backup, and the Grenadier's Softcap equipped, he will receive 20% less damage from any level of Sentry Gun.

Combat Mini-Sentry Gun

“

Sometimes, you just need a little less gun. Click to listen — The Engineer

”

The Combat Mini-Sentry Gun is a more combat-efficient version of the standard Sentry Gun, and is a component of the Engineer's Gunslinger unlock. The Combat Mini-Sentry Gun has several advantages: it costs only 100 metal to place, constructs at four times the speed of the original Sentry Gun, is deployed at full health and fires 50% faster than a Level 1 Sentry Gun. However, it is neither repairable nor upgradable, as it is intended for short-term use rather than long-term area denial fortification. It also deals only 50% the damage per shot of the original Level 1 Sentry Gun. Combat Mini-Sentry Guns can be picked up and redeployed like regular Sentry Guns.

Sentry Gun Levels

Level	Kill Icon	Health	Cost	Weaponry	Damage	Ammo
1		150 (effectively 450 with the Wrangler shielding)	130 Metal	Semi-Automatic Firing Barrel	Damage:16 Shots per second: 4 (8 with Wrangler) Average DPS: 64 (128 with Wrangler)	100 rounds
2		180 (effectively 540 with the Wrangler shielding)	330 Metal	Dual Rotational Minigun Barrels	Damage: 16 Shots per second: 8 (16 with Wrangler) Average DPS: 128 (256 with Wrangler)	120 rounds
3		216 (effectively 648 with the Wrangler shielding)	530 Metal	Dual Rotational Minigun Barrels Target Guided Rocket Launch Support System	Damage: 16 Shots per second: 8 (16 with Wrangler) Average DPS: 128 (256 with Wrangler) Rockets fire every 3 seconds (slightly faster with the Wrangler) dealing 102 damage on direct hit	144 rounds 20 rocket salvos

Combat Mini-Sentry Gun

Level	Kill Icon	Health	Cost	Weaponry	Damage	Ammo
N/A		100 (effectively 300 with the Wrangler shielding)	100 Metal	Semi-Automatic Firing Barrel	Damage: 8 Shots per second: 6 (12 with Wrangler) Average DPS: 48 (96 with Wrangler)	100 rounds

Related Achievements

General

File:Tf get turretkills.jpg

Sentry Gunner Accumulate 10 Sentry Gun kills with a single turret.

Scout

64px

Gun Down Destroy an active Sentry Gun using your Pistol.

64px

If You Build It Destroy 3 enemy Buildings while they are still under construction.

Soldier

Engineer to Eternity Kill an Engineer as he repairs his Sentry Gun while it's under enemy fire.

Guns of the Navar0wned Kill 5 Engineer Sentry Guns while you are standing outside of their range.

Demoman

The Argyle Sap Blow up an Engineer, his Sentry Gun, and his Dispenser with a single Sticky bomb detonation.

Cry Some Moor! Destroy 50 buildings.

Engineer

	Texas Two Step Use your Shotgun to finish off an enemy recently damaged by your Sentry Gun.			Uncivil Engineer Provide an enemy player with a freeze cam of you and the Sentry Gun that just killed them.
	Deputized Get 10 assists with another Engineer where a Sentry Gun was involved in the kill.			Frontier Justice Within 10 seconds, have your Sentry Gun kill the enemy that just killed you.
	Best Little Slaughterhouse in Texas Rack up 5000 kills with your Sentry Guns.			If You Build It, They Will Die Haul a level 3 Sentry Gun into a position that achieves a kill shortly after being redeployed.
	Doc, Stock and Barrel Repair a Sentry Gun under fire while being healed by a Medic.			No Man's Land Use a Sentry Gun to kill 25 enemy players trying to capture a point.

Medic

File:Sentryani.gif

Midwife Crisis Heal an Engineer as he repairs his Sentry Gun while it's under enemy fire.

Sniper

De-Sentry Gun-lized Destroy 3 Engineer Sentry Guns.

Spy

Constructus Interruptus Kill an Engineer who is working on a Sentry Gun.

Joint Operation Sap an enemy Sentry Gun within 3 seconds of a teammate sapping another.

Trivia

• The original Sentry Gun designs were created by Radigan Conagher in 1890. The original and current designs are visually identical.
• The Engineer apparently designed and built the final version of the Sentry Gun under contract from 'TF Industries' in 1965.^{[citation needed]}
• The official game manual for Team Fortress 2 is actually the Sentry Gun Operating Manual.
• A label on the Sentry Gun blueprint reads "Automatic Sentry Gun Apparatus;" however, the Sentry Gun manual refers to it as a "Sentry Gun Mechanical Firing Device".
• The Sentry Gun makes a number of beeps every time it reverses its rotation. The number of beeps corresponds to its upgrade level, where a level 3 turret makes three quick beeps. Additionally, the higher the Sentry Gun's level, the louder it is. A level 1 Sentry Gun is slightly harder to hear than a level 3 Sentry Gun; this fact can be used to counter enemy Sentry Guns.
• When out of ammunition, a Sentry Gun will continue lock on to enemies and attempt to fire, but will instead make clicking sounds.
• Engineers can reach higher standing on a level 1 Sentry Gun than with a Dispenser, making it a better choice on jump and puzzle maps.
• An unused alternate kill icon for the level 1 Sentry Gun exists in the game files, seen to the right. It is possible this was a concept icon for kills made with the Wrangler.

Unused level 1 sentry kill icon

• When the Wrangler was added in the Engineer Update, all levels of Sentry Gun were given laser sights to accommodate it.
• A bug existed where level 2 and 3 Combat Mini-Sentry Guns could be built by building a normal Level 2 or 3 Sentry Gun, switching to the Gunslinger and hauling and redeploying the existing Sentry Gun. The result of this was a miniature version of the Level 2 and 3 Sentry Guns that gained the properties of the Combat Mini-Sentry, such as the 75% damage and the 4x build speed. These Sentry Guns would always appear to be on the RED team but their characteristic light effect would glow their proper team color. This bug was fixed and subsequently re-added accidentally as of the October 8, 2010 Patch.
• An image appearing on the Engineer Update page possibly show very early designs of the modern Sentry Gun.^{[citation needed]}
• The flashing light on the Combat Mini-Sentry Gun appears, like the one on the Bomb Cart, to be attached with duct tape.
• Feign deaths produced by the Dead Ringer will not be added to the Sentry Gun kill/assist counter, but will contribute to the Best Little Slaughterhouse in Texas achievement.
• Mini-Sentry Guns appear to have the exact same stats as the Builder's Turret from the fan game Gang Garrison 2 (in terms of health, rate of fire and deployment time). Equipping the Gunslinger also makes the Engineer have the same health as the Builder.
• Combat Mini-Sentry Guns share gibs with standard level 1 Sentry Guns. This means that players will see the light and the checkerboard pattern disappear when a Combat Mini-Sentry Gun is destroyed.
• As with all buildings, friendly units can walk through a sentry much like they can any other friendly unit. However the Engineer who built the sentry cannot, and neither can enemy team-members, including Spies. As a result, Sentry Guns can be used to block passages and doorways, preventing access by Spies.

See also

• Engineer strategy
• Sentry Gun Placement

External links

• Sentry Gun manual