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
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The Sentry Gun (sometimes known as a "Sentry", "Turret", 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 miniguns, 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, 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 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 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 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.
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 automatically 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 Tank Buster Pack equipped, he will receive 20% less damage from any level of Sentry Gun.
A Pyro can reflect the rockets of an enemy level 3 Sentry Gun.
Contents
Combat Mini-Sentry Gun
| “ | Go ahead! Build your tiny gun! Then RUN!
Click to listen
— The Heavy on the Engineer's strategies
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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. 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. In addition, the Combat Mini-Sentry can rotate to aim at a potential target 35% faster than the default 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 | |
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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
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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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Bugs
- 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.
- The player has the ability to build a Combat Mini-Sentry Gun while having the Wrench or Southern Hospitality equipped, by holding out the blueprints for the sentry with the Gunslinger, and then quickly switching to the Wrench. The player will build a mini-sentry (it will still take away 130 metal). This cannot be done vice versa (AKA Equipping Gunslinger while having normal Sentry blueprints out).
- A sapped Mini-sentry will not show an alert on HUD and the Engineer may not say a fitting line.
- Destruction of a Combat Mini-sentry does not get sent to the kill feed.
Related Merchandise
- Sentry1.jpg
Trivia
- 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.
- When the Wrangler was added in the Engineer Update, all levels of Sentry Gun were given laser sights to accommodate it.
- 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.
- 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.
- The Combat Mini-Sentry's status in the corner of the HUD will show a upgrade progress bar, despite not being repairable or upgradable.
