Buildings

Buildings are machines that can be constructed by the Engineer using his Construction PDA. These buildings include the Sentry Gun, Dispensers, Jump Pads and Teleporter.

Engie Building a Sentry

Overview

Buildings are special constructions that can be built by the Engineer. As of version 2.1.0, there are 5 types of buildings he can contruct. He can build Sentry Guns or Sentries which reinforce an area, Dispensers which can heal and supply ammo that provide a safe space for his team, Teleporters which can transport Teammates (and enemy Spies) to this safe space faster. Finally while equipping the PDA: Jump pads allow him to replace his Teleporters with Jump Pads which allow his Teammates to jump over map elements and use routes only explosive jumpers normally have access to.

To place a building, the Engineer must have enough Metal. An Engineer has 200 reserve metal to start with but can be replenished througha variety of methods such as Dispensers, Ammo boxes and Building gibs. Sentries cost 130 Metal to place, Dispensers 100, Teleporter Entrances and Exits cost 50 each and Jump Pads cost 70. Metal is expended to repair, upgrade and for Sentries specifically, reload. Metal priority goes to repairing first, Each building takes 200 Metal to reach the next level, with the level cap at 3. Each Wrench swing uses up Metal, and if the Engineer does not have any left a distinct sound will play and nothing will happen.

To actually place a Building, an Engineer must open his Construction PDA and select which Building he wishes to place (default keys: 1., 2, 3 & 4). Buildings can only be placed on relatively flat surfaces with enough surface area for the Buildings to realistically be. Afterwards the Building will begin construction. Buildings will build themselves with enough time, but this can be sped up by hitting them with the Engineer's Wrench. This even works on other Engineer's Buildings who are on the same team.

Just like Players, Buildings have a health stat and if the health reaches zero, they explode into gibs which can be picked up for Metal and Ammo. A Building's health starts at 0 but gains health as it increases. The health of buildings increases with each level, capping at level 3. Players can put their crosshair over a Building to see its health, but damaged Buildings show signs of damage such as sparks or being on fire. Buildings are immune to status effects such as Afterburn or Bleed, so don't bother with lighting one with a Flamethrower and holding out the Harvester and expect it to do something.

If an enemy Spy places a Sapper on a building, a sapper appears on the building and disables it, while slowly draining it's health. Once a Building is sapped, the Engineer who built it will receive an indication that their Building is sapped. Sappers can be removed by the Engineer himself or any other Engineer on the Engineer's Team.

Hauling

Buildings can be picked up and moved by their builders by pressing alt-fire while looking at the building and standing next to them. This allows for the redeployment of a building without having to destroy and completely build a new one, thus saving metal, effort and time. This also preserves any score tallies a building may have. Packing up is sintant, and the Engineer appears to be carrying a toolbox over his shoulder to all players, while from first person he carries a toolbox as a normal building construction. Damaged buildings can be packed up, but still retain their damage while being hauled. Sapped buildings cannot be hauled at all.

Only one building can be hauled at a time, and doing so reduces the Engineer's speed, regardless of type or level of said building. Additionally, the Engineer cannot switch weapons or taunt while hauling, but can still use teleporters, his own or another player's. Unless of course the Engineer starts to haul one end of a teleporter.

If an Engineer is killed while hauling a building, the building will also be destroyed, indicated with a special kill icon showing a toolbox.

Redeploying a building after hauling is similar to constructing a new building, however it is much faster, and an Engineer can speed it up even more. Higher level buildings must cycle through all of their upgrade animations with a short delay between each, so it is inadvisable to place a level 3 sentry in the middle of a firefight.

Related achievements

Achievement		Description
	KA-BLOOIE!	Take out 5 Engineer buildings with the Dynamite Pack.
	Fuse Refusal	Defuse an enemy Demoman's Dynamite Pack with the Wrench.
	Full Transparency	Fully recharge your Invisibility Watch at an enemy Dispenser while cloaked.
	Tele Tourism	Teleport other players over 10 kilometers.
	Phony Express	Kill an Engineer shortly after taking an enemy Teleporter.
	Terminal Velocity	Kill someone by landing on them after using a Jump Pad.
	Skyfall	Get a backstab kill shortly after using an enemy Jump Pad.
	Fan the Flames	Extinguish yourself with a Jump Pad.
	Fan Service	Have other players use your Jump Pads 1,000 times.
	Jumpstarter	Have teammates get 20 kills shortly after using your Jump Pads.
	Out of Circulation	Destroy 40 Jump Pads.