Sensor Tower: is it worth to build?

I was so excited about this Terran Building the first time I heard about it but it had so much disadvantages.

1) Sensor range is visible to opponents

- I know it would be too powerful for opponents not see because of the range it has but it also is the big letdown for the Terran player. Building it near or on your base, is almost a suicide.

2) When an opponents unit crosses the sensor, they appear only on the minimap and does not reveal under the fog of war.

- This is also too powerful if it revealed the fog of war plus its cheap building cost but what really makes it a sensor tower?

Some strategies for using this:

1) Build it somewhere away from your base to make a diversion. With this diversion you can ambush enemy units,

What else can we get from this building?

 

I hadn't thought of using it as a diversion. You could set it up at a High Yield, or any other expo for that matter, making them think you had lifted off, or at the very least expanded there, only to show up to nothing but a tower, and you know that where they are.

As for other uses, I set it up as far out as possible from my natural expo. This lets me know when they are coming and let's me set up defenses properly, instead of not noticing them until they are already there and blowing **** up.

I find that it also encourages them to not attack, or take an alternate route. If I have a sensor tower near, they are more likely to try and take a back entrance to my base, which I was anticipating.

Either way, with how cheap it is, I don't see a point in not putting one up, at least at your main. I could understand if you lifted off at the beginning and put down at a different base, but there are really no disadvantages to using one if they know where you are.

EDIT: After watching some of Day[9]'s streams, he mentioned something about using sensor towers in the middle of the map to allow you to be offensive when on the backfoot, by seeing where his army is and if it is moving and using that to either ambush or take out bases,

 

I've used it against opponents who use reapers, nydus worms, warp prisms, etc. IIRC they're pretty cheap and they do cover a large radius.

 

I saw on the previews that it showed units under fog of war as blips, as they approached, I have not played SC2 but I'm sure it will improve.

 

Its worth building for sure. I like to place them all over the map if its going to be a long game.

 

Does anyone know if it will show cloaked units in the fog of war. I know it doesn't detect, but would it still show a unit is in the area, or would it not show anything?

 

Im pretty sure it doesn't show cloaked units at all. I'll have to check ingame sometime.

 

It should be able to detect cloaked units, being a 'sensor' tower, and also looking like a radar, makes sense that it'd be a detector as well...

 

It would be too powerful of a detector due it's absolutely massive range.

The AA Tower does a fine job at being a detector. Besides, Terran have probably the easiest access to detectors early in the game, and although it isn't mobile, they are fairly cheap and serve another purpose.

 

when the enemy is aware of your main location or an expanse location there is no real reason why not to build it.

 

They used to detect cloaked units (not real detection, just showed them on the mini-map) but that was canceled during the alpha.

 

It's good against hit and run opponents. Mutas for example are incredibly annoying and it helps to know where they'll strike next when you have a sensor tower.

 

i understand that you can build the tower for a diversion, but any sc player would understand the importance of early scouting

the only reason i see to use the tower its when you can build a lot and gain just a mass awareness of the whole map

other than that imo its pretty worthless

from watching a lot of replays it seems like this is the only building never really being used

 

Personally, I like to use it for an advance warning so I can mobilize my units.

Managed to delay a guy that was trying to throw Reapers at my mineral line, and slamming the Depot/Bunker wall to my main/expansion with Marauders. Wound up busting out a huge fleet of Vikings for a win.

I was just relocating my own Marines and Marauders to deal with the threats accordingly.

One match I'll have to see how using it to go 'haha I have this expansion' by simply throwing a tower down there. And then probably pick it up for real later.

 

I've had to specially make sure it's built to cover behind me too. one protoss player void rayed me to death cuz he snuck around my poor sensor tower placement. That being my fault I know.
-smacks himself on the head-

 

yeah, i think i've only seen sensor towers being built once in all the replays i've seen. it's a really worthless building. the concept is fine, but they really need to buff it. a lot.

1. allow it to give vision over cliffs (would really help on maps like Lost Temple and defending against high-ground doom drops)

2. make the fog-vision much bigger. i'm of the opinion that, if the enemy gets to know you built a sensor tower, that one sensor tower should have enough range to detect units on at least half the map (in a 1v1). it's not even a really huge advantage, since you can only detect unit location, and not the type of units in the fog.

3. make it a detector within its normal vision range, but not in fog-vision.

 

The problem seems to be that it's role overlaps with that of a xel'naga watchtower, which is essentially a free building that does the same thing only better.

So I think the sensor tower needs something a little extra to make it worth using instead of a watch tower. Maybe give it an ability that drains it's energy (like cloak) to increase it's sensing range by 60%. Would be really nice to use the ability and find that the entire enemy army was skirting around the edge of the sensing range.

 

maybe an aoe affect to all terran units in its vicinity

increasing all terran units +1 range or something maybe?

 

That would probably be Protoss, their Photon cannons detect stealth, and protoss need cannons to defend their bases off.

As expensive as they are, they will be there

 

i feel that they should either upgrade the sensor tower's range or make it invis? i think it would be useful if its invisible