Sensor Tower

From The StarCraft 2 Wiki

The Sensor Tower is a able to spot enemy units.

Contents 1 Background 2 Sensor Tower 2.1 StarCraft II Building 2.1.1 Abilities 2.1.2 Upgrades 3 Development

Background

Sensor Tower (SC2) [e]
Building Attributes
Race:	Terran, Tier 2
Type:	Armored Mechanical Structure Ground
Combat
HP:	200
Armor:	0 ( Armored Structure)
Special Abilities
Radar
Production
Built by:	SCV
Hotkey:	W
Cost:	125 100
Build Time:	25
Requires:	Engineering Bay

Top terran military analysts all agree that "Knowing is half the battle" and that early warning is one of the keys to victory. The sensor tower is a vital tool for long-range surveillance of enemy movement and the detection of stealthed aggressors. Sensor towers are a lynchpin of terran base defenses, and as such, they need to be heavily guarded. A smart attacker will try to destroy sensor towers as the first priority.

A sensor tower processes a whole battery of input, constantly updating a commander's knowledge of the battlefield. By using both passive and active thermal and electromagnetic scanning mixed with millimetric radar sweeps, input from seismic sensors, and Doppler analysis, a sensor tower can quickly pinpoint any target within range. Even foes that are out of sight behind terrain can be detected, although a visual verification will still be required to positively identify them.

The downside to all this multi-spectrum output is that foes can easily detect the presence of a sensor tower and use it to identify the whereabouts of a terran base. Other strategies revolve around "spoofing" the tower with decoy units or simply staying outside its range. Terran commanders have been known to counter by erecting sensor towers in fake base locations just to keep enemies guessing.

Sensor Tower

StarCraft II Building

The Sensor Tower allow Terran players to have more control over the battlefield, especially if deployed near strategically important map locations. Enemy units which enter its radar capacity will be shown on your minimap. Sensor Towers, unlike any Xel'Naga Tower, does not reveal the area within its capacity nor let you see which exact type of units are approaching it.

Do note that the Sensor Tower's detection area will always be visible to the enemy.

Abilities

Sensor Towers have no active abilities available to use.

• Radar (passive). The structure is able to expose enemy movements within its radar capacity. Does not reveal the area.

Upgrades

The Sensor Tower will benefit from the following upgrades.

• Building Armor. Upgrades the armor of buildings by 2.

Development

In pre-beta builds of Star Craft II the Sensor Tower was upgradeable to a more advanced Radar Tower, which featured an even greater radar capacity and the ability to spot cloaked units. The Radar Tower has since been removed from the game.