Dispenser
| “ | Need a dispensah here!
Click to listen
— The Scout
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” |
A Dispenser is a building that can be constructed by an Engineer, providing health, ammo, and metal to nearby teammates. Engineers rely heavily on metal from their Dispensers to construct and maintain their Sentry Guns and other buildings. Any player may replenish their supplies by simply standing next to the Dispenser. Retrieving ammunition from the Dispenser does not affect it's supply of metal.
Dispensers can prove to be invaluable in supporting a team when used effectively. As well as providing a steady health increase for teammates, Dispensers act as a portable ammo source, and can provide additional Metal for other Engineers to use. Dispensers will also attract many teammates to one area which can help to better forward an attack, particularly if the team is scattered and ungrouped.
The Dispenser costs 100 Metal to place, and 200 Metal to upgrade to Level 2, and an additional 200 to upgrade to Level 3. Each upgrade increases the Dispenser's health, ammo and metal output. While being constructed, a Dispenser's health will increase until reaching 150 upon completion. A newly built Dispenser contains 25 metal and thereafter generate 40 metal every 5 seconds unless upgraded. It can hold up to 400 metal, as represented by a gauge on the front of the Dispenser. A Dispenser can be manually rotated to face a different direction before you build it: when the blueprint is shown, using the alternate attack button (default key: MOUSE2) will rotate the blueprints clockwise by 90 degrees. A destroyed Dispenser leaves 50 Metal worth of pieces, which can also be picked up by other classes as ammo.
Contents
Levels
| Level | Health | Cost | Generation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health | Ammo | Metal | |||||
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150 | 100 Metal | 10 / sec | 20% / sec | 40 / 5 sec | ||
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180 | 300 Metal | 15 / sec | 30% / sec | 50 / 5 sec | ||
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216 | 500 Metal | 20 / sec | 40% / sec | 60 / 5 sec | ||
Related Achievements
Demoman
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The Argyle Sap Blow up an Engineer, his sentry gun, and his dispenser with a single stickybomb detonation. |
Heavy
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Factory Worker Kill 20 enemies while being recharged by a dispenser. |
Engineer
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Strategy
- The Pyro standing near a Dispenser can act as a mobile firewall. The Dispenser is capable of replenishing the Flamethrower's ammo faster than can be fired, so this is a great anti-Spy measure - but it does leave your team an attacker short.
- The Heavy can utilize a Dispenser in the same way, laying down a hail of bullets across a large area. This can be used as an anti-Spy measure, or to defend an area such as a cap point or choke point. Any Heavy using this technique needs to be aware of the damage drop off of his Minigun. This can be used to control hallways or even in an enemies base (such as the sewers in 2Fort) to keep either an entrance open or a safe place for a teleporter. The Heavy can fire continuously, so keep sweeping an area to send away stickies and check for hidden Spies.
- A Sniper can keep firing without having to go from his Sniper spot and get ammo. Also, since many Spies cannot resist sapping an unguarded Dispenser, it can be used as an early warning system.
- When entering Sudden death, building a Dispenser first is important to provide health, ammunition and metal to your team.
- Dispensers give ammunition for any teammate nearby, including disguised enemy Spies. As a Spy, if you see an enemy Dispenser, consider leaving it intact to recharge Cloak, fill your health meter, or to remain indefinitely invisible while using the Dead Ringer or the Invisibility Watch.
- When in a centralized area close to other Engineers, consider putting all the Dispensers close to each other. The healing and ammo dispensing mechanisms do stack for multiple Dispensers, so placing them together will allow you and your teammates to refill and heal up to full health much faster than with a single Dispenser by each Engineer's Sentry Gun. While the risk of losing the Dispensers is higher, the benefits can sometimes be enough to keep your teammates on the attack.
- A Dispenser can effectively block narrow passages from enemies, slowing down their progress. Very effective versus Scouts when coupled with a Sentry Gun nearby.
- A Dispenser can also be used for spychecking if placed in a narrow hallway, as Spies can not go through your buildings even while disguised.
- The healing beam and ammo supply mechanisms are two separate functions of the Dispenser, someone in healing range of a Dispenser is not necessarily close enough to take ammo from the Dispenser.
- Similarly, a Dispenser can sometimes supply ammunition and metal through walls but cannot heal through them.
- An Engineer can stand on his own Dispenser, allowing him to reach higher platforms than he could just by jumping, allowing for more strategic deployment of Sentry Guns and other buildings.
Trivia
- Level 2 and 3 Dispensers were not added to TF2 until the December 11, 2008 Patch.
- A level three Dispenser heals nearly as fast the Medigun's in-battle healing rate (24 HP/sec).
- At level two, the front "button" panel in the middle of the Dispenser turns into a small tray filled with syringes and medicine pills; at level three, a mechanical panel with an EKG (Electrocardiogram) heart-rate monitor rises from the top of the Dispenser. The riser is cosmetic however; standing on a level three Dispenser will not give the Engineer a higher boost than a normal Dispenser.
- Additionally, the screen on the EKG continues to spike, despite not being attached to anyone.
- Sentry Gun fire and rockets can be blocked by Dispensers. Additionally, Sentry Guns will not detect enemy players standing behind friendly Dispensers.
- By standing within the healing range of a Dispenser, it is possible to stay underwater indefinitely.
- For a short time after The WAR Update, Spies were able to build Dispensers, through the use of the console, but could not upgrade them.
- Per the Sentry Gun instruction manual, the Dispenser is a "Dispense-O-Matic 9000 Provisions Dispenser".
- A Level 1 BLU Dispenser makes a cameo appearance as a "curious dispenser" in the Telltale game Sam & Max 304: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls. Standing near it makes the usual Dispenser healing sound. Sam can hit the Dispenser 8 times to hit it with a Wrench each time (complete with genuine sound effect), to open the bottom drawer revealing a "Banang" shake. Sam can also try to take the Banang, but the drawer closes again before he can grab it. (Max actually unplugs it out of irritation.)
| “ | Look Max, free health, ammo, cupcakes, clues, and enlightenment! Oh wait, it's empty.
— Sam on Curious Dispensers
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