Talk:Sentry Gun/Archive 1

The following discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it.

Merge Combat Mini-Sentry Gun.

I say we merge the two. No need having 2 articles on basically the same thing. -- Smashman... _{(t • s)} 10:52, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Agreed (and obviously already done by somebody), there isn't enough to say about them for a extra articel.

However we should create a few redirects, at least Combat Mini-Sentry Gun, maybe also mini sentry and similar stuff. I'll do it in the evening if nobody has by then. --CruelCow 12:47, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Also I say lets put the Mini sentry on top of the other sentrys. Doesn't make sense having it in the order week, strong, very strong, then very week — The preceding unsigned comment was added by GOLDENTRIANGLES (talk) • (contribs) 23:48, 3 September 2011

Mini-Sentry Health

Just how much health does the mini-sentry actually have? It dies to one Huntsman arrow, so definitely not more than 120. The Neotank 12:24, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Moving stuff

It appears that after the Engineer Update is released, players will be able to pick up and move their sentries around locations in a map. The Sentry retains its level after being transported in the Toolbox. It is unknown if there will be a downside to moving your Sentry. I haven't got a chance yet to play with it, but it appears to me there are no downsides beside a reduced walkspeed? Somebody with more knowledge please rewrite it --CruelCow 12:47, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

The sentry also has to rebuild from level 1. So if you move a level 3 sentry it has to build to level one, then level two then upgrade to level three. It's faster than a complete rebuild, but it takes the sentry out of action for a while. Worth timing the difference and finding out if it's worth moving, but walking slowly to the new place or destroying and walking faster but having a slower rebuild. There must be a distance that would be more advantagous to walk faster to, but build slower. -- Smashman... _{(t • s)} 12:49, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Level 3 Mini-Sentry

Look at the little bugger! --Vi3trice 18:14, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

It's so cuuuttteeeeee --Firestorm 18:15, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

I want one as a pet. OluapPlayer 18:31, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Keep those darn kids of my lawn --Firestorm 18:35, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Curious thought. What with RED being the default material, and the the fact that the Mini-Sentry is not SUPPOSED to be upgradable. Does that mean this is simply the normal Sentry model, but scaled down by the game itself while using a different level 1 texture and light entity? Or did they just add the other levels just for the future, so itʻs less work if they decided to do something with it? Hmm... Benjamuffin 22:58, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

I think it's the normal sentry either scaled down or offset (the bottom of the legs are under the floor). The flashing light is attached to the only attachment point (the rockets). It doesn't looks like they added other levels for any future updates. Netshroud 23:58, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

They're the same model. The Mini-Sentry uses a different skingroup of its own and toggles the light model part on. The game scales it down and that's also the reason why the range indicator on the Mini-Sentry doesn't match its actual range. You can check it out with the SDK. There isn't a "Mini-Sentry" file, it's the Level 1 Sentry that was updated. -- Vi3trice _(talk) 00:11, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

I figured as much. I feel rather proud that my guess seems to be valid. So is the siren a mdl file somewhere? Benjamuffin 01:00, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

The light thingy is just a submodel in the level 1 sentry mdl file, and the checkerboard texture is one of the skins. — Wind 01:20, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Ah. Knew about the skin, but couldnʻt figure out the light location. I was going to attach it to a dispenser replacement (repair node). Benjamuffin 01:30, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Kind of makes me feel like they didnʻt really make much for the Engineer update. I love it and all, but thereʻs not many custom items. The Frontier Justice is pretty much a modification of the original Shotgun Model, the Sentries are just scaled down, and the other wrench is a community item. Besides the hand, it feels like for the final class update, they could have worked a little more. But then what do I know. Everything fits well and works, so perhaps little is more in this case? Benjamuffin 01:32, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

The little light on top of the Mini-Sentry is actually stolen from the bomb cart, by the way XD -- Winterous 04:32, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

No wonder, the thing's stuck onto the sentry with tape. -- Vi3trice _(talk) 04:39, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

Mini-Sentry stats

I did some testing earlier, and a few things on the page are just plain wrong. First of all, it does not have 150 health, on a server where the damage dealt by it was 8 with every shot (probably no damage spread on) it took 13 shots to kill another mini-sentry, that's 104 damage, and so it's reasonable to assume it has 100 health, not 104. It has a greater fire rate than a level 1 Sentry, by my count (not with a timer, just in my head) it fired roughly 50% more bullets in a second than a level 1 Sentry; this means that while it does half damage per bullet, it has 3/4 the DPS of a level 1 Sentry. - Note that these tests were done with the Wrangler, so I'm just assuming there is no odd discrepancy between non-wrangled and wrangled versions of the Mini-Sentry.

I confirm it has 100 health. At least, that's what communityhud says, as it shows the numerical health of players and buildings you look at. However, the Wrangler does increase the Sentry's fire rate; you should test with it on and off.

What I mean by odd discrepancies was that I assumed that the Mini-Sentry didn't, for example, triple its fire rate instead of double with the Wrangler in use.

I'm also pretty sure that the Mini-Sentry has more than 100 rounds in its magazine, from memory it cost 150 metal to reload it, so that would be 150 rounds wouldn't it?

Mini-Sentry Bug

Even after the update earlier, I saw some glitched upgraded Mini Sentries today. I don't know if this is a different bug, or maybe Valve changed the wrong code in reference to it. Anyone else see them? Sirakou 00:01, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I guess I'll have to play around for a bit. When you change from the Wrench to the Gunslinger or vice-versa, your sentry is destroyed, including if you're carrying it with you. --Vi3trice 00:28, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I know how, you pull out the build box with the sentry blueprint, and then you switch from Wrench to Claw, you build and upgrade it, and then pick it up and put it down.

Shape of the range indicator

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/index.php?title=Sentry_Gun&diff=50171&oldid=50166 Why did you undo my change? It IS NOT a sphere, it is a cylinder, it's just simple fact. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by Winterous (talk) • contribs)

Clearly you need to read up on shapes. -- Smashman... _{(t • s)} 11:11, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

I'm going to remove that comment I made from the bugs section all-together, now that VALVe has fixed the sphere to be the same as the normal sentry, My bug listing is unneeded. GOLDENTRIANGLES (talk) 07:26, 28 February 2014 (PST)

Damage % of mini-sentry

It is described in its section at 75% but is officially 50% normal lvl1 sentry damage. ZeekNyne 17:34, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Shot by shot, the Mini-Sentry deals 50% less damage, but also fires 50% faster than a Level 1 Sentry, so it's Damage-Per-Second is 75% that of the standard Lv. 1 Sentry. Does that clear things up for you at all? -- MistahFixIt 18:39, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

DOES it fire faster? I never noticed that --Firestorm 18:41, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

Time to do some recording then. Again. --Vi3trice 18:52, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

There. --Vi3trice 22:40, 11 July 2010 (UTC)

we need a new video it's been removed — The preceding unsigned comment was added by GOLDENTRIANGLES (talk) • (contribs) 22:53, 3 September 2011 (PDT)

Hello. Please sign your posts with ~~~~. Also, since this video isn't used on the page, it's not actually necessary to make a new version of it.  –  Epic Eric (T | C) 15:55, 3 September 2011 (PDT)

Repair speed?

How fast does an engineer repair? I can't find this info and don't know how to conclusively test it. I would like to add a section on tanking a sentry; it would be interesting and useful to know how long a tanked sentry lasts under direct (uber) heavy fire and what can kill a contantly repaired sentry (I think a non-stop rocket barrage from a single soldier cannot, and nor can repeated charged or uncharged sniper shots from a single sniper). Strange Quirk 15:45, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

I think this would belong to Strategy pages, not the Sentry Gun page. Direct fire from a Heavy may or may not destroy a constantly-repaired Sentry Gun (it depends on distance and whether the Heavy is using Sasha or not). I don't think any other weapon can kill it while it's being repaired, but it really depends on timing. Wrench hits are sparse, and there is quite some time between two of them, so depending on when you fire your first rocket, results vary. In short, it's a difficult topic. — Wind 15:54, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Wrench That has the info :P Winterous 15:55, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

Hehe, thanks. Should have checked there first :). Still, I think the comparison is important. For instance, a Soldier with the normal rocket launcher can only take down a tanked sentry at point-blank; any farther and he will fail if the engineer hits his sentry at least once between the first and second rocket hits, for any level sentry (besides minisentry). Coincidentally, the rockets fire at exactly the same rate as the engineer hits his sentry. As for heavies, either heavy can take it down point blank and usually at medium range. (I'm just comparing DPS vs repair rate. Engie's repair rate is 131.25 per second). But I think these calculations (as well as how long a tanked sentry can stay up under heavy/flamethrower fire, for instance) are quite interesting. It seems the sentry gun article would be the better place, since its just stats and not strategy. I could add a note on the strategy article about tanking and its uses, but I think a "Tanking" section would be good here. Thoughts? Strange Quirk 19:14, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

Achievements

Is it just me or are the achievements oddly spaced? --Kurathedog 23:24, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Sentry Range

Out of curiosity what is the Sentry gun's range? I've read it is a sphere with a radius of 1024 Hammer units but I cannot find an official figure. I feel this fact might be useful in the article. Moussekateer 08:38, 26 October 2010 (UTC)

According to the game's code, the actual range of the sentry gun is 1100 units. Testing this now. -Nerdboy 22:39, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

Alright, testing done. Range is exactly 1100 units, which means to say, anything at or beyond 1100 units from the sentry gun's origin (about 37 units off the ground) is outside of its range. -Nerdboy 22:47, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

Sorry about that, math failure. The sentry gun's range is exactly 1100 units inclusive. I can back this up with the server binaries as well. -Nerdboy 23:03, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for that info, good stuff to know. I'll stick it in the article. Moussekateer 14:46, 27 November 2010 (UTC)

"An image appearing on the Engineer Update page possibly shows very early designs of the modern Sentry Gun.[citation needed]"

I've checked the whole image, the only "older version" is the TFC one, should we delete that trivia?

Yea it's been there a long time with no evidence. I say remove it. Also please remember to sign your comments with ~~~~. Moussekateer 16:45, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

Isn't he talking about that very first video teasing the update? Swordz 16:46, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

The Mini Sentry now has its own Kill Icon

Does anyone know what the mini sentry kill icon looks like? We need to get a picture of it. The Man with No Name 00:53, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Give us time, it'll be up soon. —Moussekateer·talk 01:06, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Extended Warranty to Trivia?

Before adding anything to this trivia section, I want to know if it's ok with the community to add trivia that the Engineer currently has an extended warranty on his Sentry Gun (as read on the Sentry Gun manual) that supposedly gives him the metal on respawn and notifies him of any Sentry damage or Sapper placement. Also, would this be good for the Sentry Gun page, or rather the Engineer page? Tidmiste 06:04, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Who needs a warranty when you are a qualified engineer. --Bigbangbilly 17:25, 24 August 2011 (PDT)

 : Nah--SilverHammer 17:26, 24 August 2011 (PDT)

Building a Sentry Video

The video under the "See Also" section seems (IMHO) completely pointless, as there are already building animation. If one was to make a video, it should be the Weapon Demonstration. The wiki is not a place to attempt to get views. Rocket Ship BBQ 14:43, 15 July 2011 (PDT)

I agree, and I removed it. It was added by the author of the video, and seemed to be there just to get views. Balladofwindfishes 15:40, 15 July 2011 (PDT)

I was just trying to help the wiki out I made it for the wiki. GOLDENTRIANGLES

Multiple Sentries

How come some people can build more than one Sentry? --Neandertaler 05:42, 1 August 2011 (PDT)

There was a bug where you could built multiple sentries using console commands. Or maybe a server plugin. SackZement (Talk) 06:47, 1 August 2011 (PDT)

Does anybody notice that the sentry have a roughly humanoid shape?

Does anybody notice that the sentry have a roughly humanoid shape? The rocket launcher look like a head and the business end look like the face. The machine guns look like arms. — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bigbangbilly (talk) • (contribs) 01:14, 25 August 2011

If you say so - I don't see it myself. Remember to sign your comments with ~~~~. » Cooper Kid (blether·contreebs) 17:21, 24 August 2011 (PDT)

Well the "face" look like 4 cameras. --Bigbangbilly 17:26, 24 August 2011 (PDT) This only applies to level 3 sentries. --Bigbangbilly 21:29, 24 August 2011 (PDT)

Maybe, maybe not. Not worth mentioning anyways. SackZement (Talk) 01:11, 25 August 2011 (PDT)

Level 1 recoil animation bug

I've noticed that on the mini-sentry, and I assume level 1 as well, when firing, the light and camera on the front of the gun recoil together with the barrel, clipping into the model. Bracket 08:36, 9 September 2011 (PDT)

Lvl 3 Sentry can/can't be Self Damaged with his own rockets??

Can a level 3 sentry self damage itself with the rockets? For example: point blank ubercharged scout vs the level 3 sentry? Didn't find it, and thought this would be nice to be known and should be mentioned somewhere(if it is possible or not). TheDoctor(without a small pic) 18:39, 30 October 2011 (PDT)

I just tested it both using Bonk! and Ubercharge and the answer is no. At point blank range the Sentry Gun took no damage from it's own rockets.

Peahats 15:18, 2 July 2012 (PDT)

Although while playing MvM, I saw that when shooting rockets while being extremely close to a tank, the sentry got self-damaged. --Neo Buster Mega (talk) 11:34, 27 May 2015 (PDT)

XBOX 360 TF2 - related question

In the Orange Box version of TF2 on the XBOX 360, can Sentries and other buildings be levelled up? 404: User Not Found ^(talk) 23:21, 23 December 2011 (PST)

Sentries yes, Teleporters and Dispensers no. Sven 23:51, 23 December 2011 (PST)

Is this trivia?

After being reminded by Ned, it's come to my attention that an entry was removed a little while back but no one justified its removal. I come to the talk page to ask if it should be readded or stay off. The trivia in question is paraphrased below.

The Combat Mini-Sentry Gun is statistically identical to the Autogun from the fan-made Gang Garrison 2. When asked about this coincidence, Robin Walker stated that it was not intentional. [1]

I decided to put some of the listing into a tooltip so the entry doesn't seem long-winded. If there's any suggestions on how to tidy it up should I get a green flag to add it later, I'll take those into consideration. -- Psychopath 17:32, 14 April 2012 (PDT)

If it's confirmed by Robin to not be a reference, it isn't really trivia. Balladofwindfishes 17:35, 14 April 2012 (PDT)

Guess who's back?

That's right! It's the return of the level 3 mini-sentry! Needs noclip to pull off now, but it has returned. Taser9001 12:58, 2 July 2012 (PDT)

Immunity to crit.?

The intro line say:"...Dealing constant as well as consistent damage with noticable knockback and an immunity to critical hits...". Any source? Kayato 02:20, 7 December 2012 (PST)

I don't think there's any source; but it's that way, you can ask that from anyone who has played/knows about Team Fortress 2 mechanics at least moderately. Sentry Guns are immune to critical hits, and you need as many critical rockets than normal rockets to destroy Sentry gun. So best source would be "This is tested thing". -Asplode 04:00, 7 December 2012 (PST)

If you REALLY need a source, one of the in-game hints and tips that scroll across the bottom of the screen while loading explains this. I believe it's a medic tip, and says something like "Critical hits have no effect on buildings, so when using the Kritzkrieg, be sure to use your ubercharge in an area full of players, not buildings!" Vaati 006 11:18, 15 February 2013 (PST)

Sentry Gun table, column content rewording

The description of each sentry's armament in the weaponry column sounds kinda cheesy right now; I've reworded it so it sounds a lot better. --Ed 01:18, 18 March 2013 (PDT)

Carried buildings destroyed in spawn

I don't believe this is a bug, as it is a feature to prevent Engineers saving buildings by hiding in spawn with them (You can't build buildings in your spawn, you shouldn't be able to carry them in there either) --HexZyle 05:02, 28 May 2013 (PDT)

Wrangler shots per second?

I noticed that the Wrangler shots per second seems to be a little off (or at least, in my tests). When I constantly shoot with the Wrangler with a lvl 2 sentry, it takes me about 18 seconds to completely empty all of my rounds, which suggests that it's about 9 shots per second. Can anybody support it, disprove it, or otherwise explain it?

Woobiesaucing (talk) 19:16, 27 August 2013 (PDT)

Audio Files?

I've looked just about everywhere on here (including the entire Audio category) and can't seem to find any Sentry Gun audio files. The level 3 beeps (idle noise and trigger alert) are what I was looking for specifically. Anybody got them handy? TheTuatara (talk) 16:22, 11 October 2013 (PDT)

Achievements

Why is the pyro's achievement "arsonist" (destroy 50 engineer buildings) not listed in the achievements section? MaxAlokin (talk) 08:25, 13 November 2013 (PST)

 Fixed Rikka Takanashi (talk) • (contributions) 09:15, 13 November 2013 (PST)

Nice. MaxAlokin (talk) 06:22, 14 November 2013 (PST)

MVM Sentry Questions

Does the critical canteen (causes the firing rate to double) stack with the wrangler (also doubles the firing rate) therefore giving it a quadruple firing rate? GOLDENTRIANGLES (talk) 07:35, 28 February 2014 (PST)

Glitch where turrets explode once moved to spawn

Now, I don't know why people are disagreeing, but considering that this glitch only applies to Sentries, it's obviously a bug. You can haul Teleporters or Dispensers to spawn rooms and they don't even explode, but with Sentries, they just so happen to instantly explode for no reason. I don't see why this can't be true. - NintendoDrilly (talk) 22:16, 19 August 2014 (PDT)

As i've stated on your talk page. Sentries are more of a threat in the Engineer's arsenal of buildings. And in the past, many people have exploited the sentry gun, Ex. Lvl 3 MINI sentry, and multiple lvl 3 sentries. This is valve's way of stopping players from exploiting the sentry gun to get an unfair advantage. Ashes (talk) 22:18, 19 August 2014 (PDT)

Health when Wrangled

In the table it says that the sentry gun has increased health while wrangling, however, the wrangler page says the shield absorbs 66% of incoming damage. Which one is it? Lennbot (talk) 11:14, 13 January 2015 (PST)

Perhaps it should be adjusted to say "Effective Health" instead? Honestly with the Gun Mettle update making repairs reduce by 66% as well as damage there is essentially no difference anymore. EmethSAS (talk) 08:40, 17 July 2015 (PDT)

Sentry Build Times

We need to get updated and consistent data on the new builds time. For instance, this page says that minis now build at 1.5 seconds with hitting, while the Gunslinger page says they build at 2.5 seconds. I'm not sure which to believe, since the update notes say hitting should build them faster than the previous 2.9 seconds, but not hitting will build slower than that previous 2.9 seconds... Either way, we need a consensus on what the new builds times are. EmethSAS (talk) 09:07, 17 July 2015 (PDT)

An explanation of the changes I have made to the section on the Combat Mini-Sentry Gun.

The following line is bad for readers and has been removed:

"In the Gun Mettle Update, the Mini-Sentry was changed so that it starts at 50% health and gains health as it builds. Meaning, Mini-Sentry Guns are now more vulnerable during construction."

Before the Gun Mettle Update, Mini-Sentries began construction with 100 health and would even regenerate some health if it were damaged during the construction. The Gun Mettle Updated nerfed the Mini-Sentry in this aspect by making it begin construction with 50 health and it would build up the remaining health over the course of the construction. However, this is still an advantage over the Sentry Gun, which will begin construction at 1 health and then build up the remaining health over the course of the construction. Although the Mini-Sentry is more vulnerable during construction after the Gun Mettle Update than it was before it, it is still less vulnerable during construction than a Level 1 Sentry Gun. As this section includes many comparisons between the Level 1 Sentry Gun and the Combat Mini-Sentry Gun, this could be misinterpreted by the reader to see this as a downside of the Mini-Sentry. This change has also been reflected in the Advantages and Disadvantages section.

The line in the Disadvantages section which shows the damage per second difference between the Level 1 Sentry Gun and the Combat Mini-Sentry Gun has also been reworded to make the comparison clearer.

OlimarAlpha (talk) 14:53, 20 October 2019 (UTC)

About "bugs" for Sentry Gun

Personnally, I think some bugs may more like functions instead of bugs, for example:

* Sentry bullets are affected by ramp-up and falloff.
* The damage of the Sentry Gun's rockets is calculated based on the distance between the enemy and the Engineer, not the Sentry Gun. Therefore, if the Engineer is closer to the enemy being targeted by the Sentry Gun, it will do more damage.

I wonder what you think of this. 16:13, 14 March 2020 (UTC)

I think both arent bugs because they're both falloff mechanics, however the 2nd one may be a bug as it calculates it based off of the engi instead of the sentry.
GrampaSwood (talk) 08:28, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

knockback multiplier

the sentry gun's bullets have a 1600% knockback multiplier, while the mini-sentry has half (800%) also, this multiplier is halved against targets outside the sentry's normal reach (when you use the wrangler) idk how to fit this in the article

WgetJane (talk) 08:18, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

Please don't include source code anywhere, it's not allowed to be on the wiki.

Not everything has to fit into an article, you could list it in the Disadvantages section for the mini-sentry and list it as something like:

• The Mini-Sentry only applies half as much knockback as a regular sentry.<ref>file path of source code, line [line numbers]</ref>.

Otherwise it can be added in the main paragraph like

"Dealing constant as well as consistent damage with noticeable knockback (1600% for Sentry Guns, 800% for Mini-Sentry Guns. Halved when outside of normal reach when using the Wrangler)<ref>file path of source code, line [line numbers]</ref> and an immunity to critical hits".
GrampaSwood (talk) 08:28, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

WgetJane: For a better example of how to properly cite things in the leaked source code, and to get an idea of what from the code we can post (because to be honest I'm still posting variable and function names from the leaked code as opposed to entire snippets), do check out the Viewfinder article. I've set up 3 references on the article that cite things in the leaked source code. And if you want an idea of what code I've cited, here's a screenshot of the code I cited for the Viewfinder so you can see what code is on what lines and how I've gone about it. 404UNF ^(talk) 20:44, 8 May 2020 (UTC)

Disposable sentry and the Wrangler

In MvM, The Wrangler cannot be used with disposable Sentries because you have to build Normal Sentries first. Correct me if I'm wrong

--Slimyboi500 (talk) 22:03, 2 October 2023 (UTC)Slimyboi500

You cannot Wrangle an MvM Mini-Sentry, no, as is described on the page.
| s | GrampaSwood (talk) (contribs) 22:19, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

The preceding discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it.