Matchups

Black Hole Sun escapers (abilities)

Black Hole Sun escapers (movement)

Black Hole Sun damage suppression

Heavy poke/damage over time

Light poke/damage over time

Telegraphed burst damage

Lingering damage

Sentry has to adjust his playstyle and build according to the abilities of the enemies he faces in a match. This section categorizes Awesomenauts based on the way they affect Sentry's abilities.Many Awesomenauts in the game have abilities that allow them to escape Black Hole Sun directly. The movement speed boost or teleportation granted by those abilities allows them to counteract the Black Hole's gravity and avoid its end damage.It is possible to force these Awesomenauts to stay in the Black Hole by silencing them using Teleport Beacon's "Ringtones for the Deaf" upgrade.When facing any of these Awesomenauts, building into Teleport Beacon's silence and damage is recommended. BHS should only be fired at these enemies if they have been silenced by the beacon or if their abilities are on cooldown.Awesomenauts with a sufficiently high movement speed and the Baby Kuri Mammoth (BKM) upgrade can escape most Black Holes by simply walking out of them. Applying silence using Teleport Beacon typically does not prevent them from escaping BHS.Note that Ayla has to be in Rage mode already to be able to escape from the center of a black hole, but since she cannot be forced out of Rage using silence, Black Holes and telebursts cannot be relied upon to get away from an Ayla with movement speed upgrades and BKM.When facing these Awesomenauts, building into Teleport Beacon is still recommended, as it can provide a reliable source of burst damage. Black Holes will usually miss against these Awesomenauts.Some Awesomenauts have abilities that protect them and their teammates from Black Hole Sun's damage. Genji's Blessing can significantly reduce the damage Black Hole Sun deals to him and his teammates, while Ix's Displace (protecting Ix himself and one teammate) and Deadlift's Protective Pose (protecting his whole team) nullify Black Hole Sun's effect entirely.Once again, initiating with a silence-enabled Teleport Beacon is recommended against these Awesomenauts, allowing Sentry to deal damage with his Black Hole more reliably.Awesomenauts with fast, low-damage, long-ranged attacks or easy to apply damage over time can prevent Sentry from landing telebursts against them.When multiple of these characters are present, the Circuits of Time upgrade (Teleport Beacon decoy) should be skipped. Teleport Beacons should be placed strategically in common escape routes, choke points or hide areas, rather than saving the ability for telebursts.If the characters in question are susceptible to Black Hole Sun, a build focused on utility, sustain and BHS damage is preferable over rushing beacon upgrades, focusing on landing charged Black Holes and allowing teammates to follow up.If BHS escapers are present, Sentry's auto-attack (along with non-teleburst beacon usage) is the most viable option, and should be invested into first.Some Awesomenauts have relatively long-ranged auto-attacks, and/or upgrades on their abilities that grant them damage over time. If those abilities are on longer cooldowns or otherwise more difficult to apply, it can be somewhat tricky to teleburst successfully, but it is still feasible to do so when rapidly approaching enemies with their DoT-inducing abilities on cooldown, while dodging their auto-attack.If these characters are present and difficulties arise while attempting to teleburst, consider building into Black Hole Sun or Photon Mine Launcher (depending on the effectivity of BHS on the enemy team composition) for the early game instead.Some burst damage abilities have a relatively long windup time before the actual damage hits, providing Sentry with enough time to raise his shields and use the incoming damage to his advantage. Typically, the amount of damage dealt by these Awesomenauts is very high, potentially filling Sentry's entire BHS charge in a single hit.As such, the Microfilm upgrade for Black Hole Sun and Power Pills Turbo should be considered fairly early on for better survivability of such attacks. Additionally, Cyanide Cigarettes can be purchased for an even greater retaliation damage output.A few Awesomenauts have high-damage abilities that, once used, linger on the battlefield for varying amounts of time. Sentry can use BHS on stray mines or dinos to accumulate high amounts of damage, giving him the opportunity to use this damage for his next initiation, possibly without the enemy being aware of his full BHS meter.In order to maximize the effectivity of such a playstyle, the upgrades Cyanide Cigarettes and Starstorm Statue for greatly increased BHS damage. Additionally, Microfilm or Tactical Vest allow Sentry to be at full health again before the collected damage starts decaying, compensating for the health loss by means of improved damage reduction or sustain.