Anti-Sentry Buster strategy

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I will send every damn one of you back to robot hell! Click to listen — The Engineer avenging his Sentry.

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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 once it is killed or reaches its target Sentry Gun.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The explosion of a Sentry Buster also kills its allies. Use this to your advantage if your team is having a hard time dealing with a horde of robots.

 Scout

• Using the Force-A-Nature will 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.
• Crit-a-Cola gives mini-crits, allowing you to quickly deal higher amounts of damage to Sentry Buster. The increased damage 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 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 remember - only one target can be marked for death at any time and the mark will disappear after some time.

 Soldier

• If the Sentry Buster is too close to you and primed to detonate, you can rocket jump to escape.
• If you have 160 HP or less use Escape Plan to escape faster from the explosion.
• 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.
• Your Rocket Specialist upgrade is very useful against Sentry Busters. The upgrade allows you to stun and deal maximum damage to it. Keep firing until it is dead, but watch out for its explosion.

 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 or Detonator and Axtinguisher or Postal Pummeler hits do excruciating damage when used in combination with air blasting - but remember that air blasting is the greater priority.
• Use the Neon Annihilator to do critical damage against a Sentry Buster that has been coated with Jarate or Mad Milk. If these last two weapons are given the proper upgrade, the advantage of this method is that a doused Sentry Buster will move slowly than usual, allowing you to chase it more easily.
• Max out the airblast force upgrade to push Sentry Busters back. If you can, you can knock them into an environmental hazard, such as a pitfall.

 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.
• Use the Chargin' Targe or Splendid Screen to escape the explosion.
• 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 slows down Sentry Busters immensely while still dealing good damage.
• The Rage upgrade will enable you to knock a Sentry Buster back, giving your team more time to destroy it before it reaches a building.
• 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 is destroyed. Buy some upgrades for Dispenser range if necessary.
• 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 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.
• The Rescue Ranger is a helpful weapon in combating Sentry Busters. Provided you have 130 metal, you can easily get away from the Sentry Buster and grab your Sentry using the Ranger's alt-fire when it's arming.
• 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.
• 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.
• Use your Übercharge Canteen to protect you and your Sentry from the explosion. Note that it will not protect your other buildings.
• Use Eureka Effect's taunt to teleport away from the Sentry Buster. You must taunt before the Sentry Buster starts to explode otherwise taunt's duration will not be enough to escape.
• If you have a Buildings Upgrade Canteen, consider throwing your Sentry into an unused corner of the map and simply building a new one once it is destroyed. This will reset your Sentry Gun's kill and damage count, so the robots won't send out more Sentry Busters for a little while, and grant crits for the Frontier Justice.

 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.
• You can use your projectile shield and simply charge towards the Sentry Buster to deal damage to it, although this is an impractical method of using the shield.

 Sniper

The hitscan hitboxes of a Sentry Buster.

• While it doesn't look like it, Sentry Busters do have head hitboxes that are sensitive to headshots. While it is difficult to consistently shoot this area it can be very useful.
• 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.
• If you're equipped with the Huntsman, remember that you can stun the Sentry Buster with the Skewer taunt but make sure to time the taunt at the right moment. It's more effective if the sentry buster is coated with Jarate.

 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.