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 on defensive measures.
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” |
The Sentry Gun, also known as the Sentry Mechanical Firing Device, Sentry, Turret, or simply abbreviated to SG, is a building that can be constructed by the Engineer using the Build Tool. The gun itself is a tripodal device constructed of metal, team-colored paint, and a laser sight (when used with the Wrangler).
The Sentry Gun 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 and health may be replenished with Metal by the Engineer hitting it with his 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 the team color with a radius of 1100 Hammer units. 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 building commences. 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 its 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 do they gain criticals. It is possible, however, to make the Sentry Gun deal mini-crit attacks and damage if its target is coated in Jarate, under the effects of the Fan O'War or Crit-a-Cola, 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 secondary 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. A wrangled Sentry Gun also has no maximum range and does not suffer from damage falloff at longer ranges. Once the Engineer switches away from the Wrangler, however, his Sentry Gun is unable to fire for 3 seconds while its auto-lock targeting computer reboots. It is still shielded during this time.
Since the Engineer Update, players are able to haul their buildings around. An Engineer carrying his Sentry Gun moves 25% slower (225 Hammer units) 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 automatically destroyed along with him and gives a notification in the kill icon area of the screen. Sentry Guns under the effects of an Electro Sapper cannot be picked up.
Contents
Combat Mini-Sentry Gun
| “ | I love that little gun!
Click to listen
— The Engineer on his Combat Mini-Sentry Gun
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” |
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. It appears as a smaller Level 1 Sentry Gun outfitted with a rotating light and glowing checkered paint. Like the Sentry Gun, it can be hauled.
Advantages
The Combat Mini-Sentry Gun has several advantages over the normal Sentry Gun:
- It costs only 100 Metal to place (the normal Sentry costs 130 Metal). This allows an Engineer at a full 200 Metal to build both it and a Dispenser without seeking additional Metal.
- Constructs at four times the speed of the original Sentry Gun, being armed and ready in less than 3 seconds (hitting the Sentry will NOT make it construct faster), and when deployed after hauling it will be armed in 1.5 seconds.
- Deployed at full health (so no gibbing) and fires 50% faster than a Level 1 Sentry Gun.
- Can rotate 35% faster than the default Sentry Gun.
- The Combat Mini-Sentry Gun is especially useful for bullet jumping. It deals even less damage and fires faster, granting more knock back per hitpoint lost.
Disadvantages
- It has only 100 health, compared to a Level 1 Sentry Gun's 150.
- It is not upgradable or repairable, though the owner and other Engineers can still refill its Ammo.
- It deals only 50% the damage per shot of the original Level 1 Sentry Gun. Therefore, DPS is overall lower (48 compared to the normal Sentry Gun's 64).
- It drops considerably less Metal when destroyed.
Sentry Gun Levels
| Level | Kill Icon | Health | Cost | Weaponry | Damage | Ammo | ||
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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 | ||
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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 | ||
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216 (effectively 648 with the Wrangler shielding) | 530 Metal |
Dual Rotational Minigun Barrels Target Guided Rocket Launch Support System |
Damage: 16
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144 rounds |
Combat Mini-Sentry Gun
| Level | Kill Icon | Health | Cost | Weaponry | Damage | Ammo | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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
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Sentry Gunner Accumulate 10 sentry gun kills with a single sentry. |
Scout
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Gun Down Destroy an active sentry gun using your pistol. |
Soldier
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Demoman
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The Argyle Sap Blow up an Engineer, his sentry gun, and his dispenser with a single stickybomb detonation. |
Engineer
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Medic
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Midwife Crisis Heal an Engineer as he repairs his sentry gun while it's under enemy fire. |
Sniper
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De-sentry-lized Destroy 3 Engineer sentry guns. |
Spy
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Update history
- Fixed Sentry muzzleflashes not drawing unless sentry was near the map origin.
- Engineer buildings now explode when the Engineer dies during sudden death.
- Fixed a bug in scoring Engineer building destruction.
- Sapped buildings now take slightly less damage from the Spy who sapped them.
- Added server log entry for buildings destroyed by their owner
- Fixed Sentry Gun shadows being clipped.
- Changed Engineer buildings to detonate when a player disconnects instead of blinking out.
- Fixed Engineer being able to detonate buildings that are being sapped.
April 29, 2008 Patch (Gold Rush Update)
- Mapmakers can now place Engineer buildings directly into a map, with an option for them to be invulnerable
- Fixed Sentry Guns firing at a fully cloaked Spy if they're still the closest target.
- Killing yourself with your own Sentry Gun no longer increments the Sentry Gun's kill counter.
- Fixed the Engineer being able to build more than 1 of each type of building.
July 8, 2010 Patch (Engineer Update)
- Added the ability to haul or move your Sentry Gun, along with having the Wrangler control the Sentry Gun
- Added a laser light to all sentry models.
- [Undocumented] 'Wrenching' a Sentry Gun now upgrades, repairs and restores ammunition all at once per Wrench hit, prioritizing repairs and upgrading if not in possession of enough metal.
- Fixed an exploit that allowed Engineers to build level 2 or 3 mini Sentry Guns.
- Fixed an exploit where Engineers could create level 3 mini-Sentry Guns.
- Fixed an exploit that allowed team kills with Wrangled Sentry Guns.
- Fixed a Sentry Gun exploit that let Engineers build multiple Sentry Guns.
- (Supposedly) Fixed Engineers being able to build level 3 mini-Sentry Guns using the Wrangler.
- Fixed another Sentry Gun exploit that let Engineers build multiple Sentry Guns.
- Fixed Engineers being able to build level 3 mini-Sentry Guns using the Wrangler (for real this time).
December 17, 2010 Patch (Australian Christmas)
- Sentry Guns no longer track Your Eternal Reward Spies after they backstab someone.
- Updated Sentry kill icons.
- Combat Mini-Sentry is given a kill icon.
- Fixed the mini-sentry HUD not playing the alert sound when the sentry is sapped or low on ammo.
- Engineers who hit teammate's Sentry Guns with their Wrench now get kill assists from that Sentry Gun.
March 10, 2011 Patch (Shogun Pack)
- Fixed the "Best Little Slaughterhouse in Texas" Engineer achievement not counting Wrangler and Mini-Sentry kills.
May 5, 2011 Patch (Replay Update)
- [Undocumented] Sentry Guns now properly target the Horseless Headless Horsemann as an enemy.
Bugs
- The player has the ability to build the Combat Mini-Sentry Gun, while having any wrench equipped, by holding out the blueprints for the Sentry with the Gunslinger and then quickly switching to a wrench. The player will build a Mini-Sentry (it will still cost 130 Metal). This cannot be done vice versa. (Equipping the Gunslinger while having normal Sentry blueprints out.)
- Combat Mini-Sentry Guns share gibs with standard Level 1 Sentry Guns. This means that the light and the checkerboard pattern disappear when a Combat Mini-Sentry Gun is destroyed.
- The Combat Mini-Sentry's status in the corner of the HUD will show an upgrade progress bar despite not being repairable or upgradable.
- The 3D sphere that represents the attack range on the Combat Mini-Sentry is smaller than the normal Sentry Gun 3D sphere, however, they both have the same attack range.
Trivia
- The original Sentry Gun designs were created by Radigan Conagher in 1890.[1] 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 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, the Sentry Gun will continue to lock on to enemies and attempt to fire. However, it will not make the lock-on sound and will produce clicking noises instead of firing.
- An unused alternate kill icon for the Level 1 Sentry Gun exists in the game files, seen to the right.
- 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.
- Valve ordered and received a full size motion-tracking model of a Level 1 Sentry Gun from Template:W.
- The Sentry Gun's alert noise sounds different to members of each team.
- An Engineer can be killed by their own Sentry Gun.
Merchandise
Gallery
Sentry Gun concept art
More Sentry Gun concept art
More Sentry Gun concept art
Even more Sentry Gun concept art
Sentry Gun explosion
Icon for a hauled item being destroyed via the Engineer's death.
Modifying your Sentry
References
- ↑ Loose Canon comic, page 8, Retrieved 2010-10-18
