Sentry

[CW]

What does the Sentry button do? By the way, I can't find a useful purpose for the patrol button too. Got any suggestions?

[rdouglass]

Sentry button tells your ship(s) to sit there and be quiet until it sees an enemy ship. IOW, it will not show up when you click the "Next Ship" button. This CAN pose problems if you forget about the ships on sentry.

In SE3, ships would use supplies on a per turn basis not in a per sector basis. IN SE4, ships just sitting there do not use supplies. So, in SE3 your ships on sentry would show up (in the 'Next Ship' sequence when they dropped below the 'low supply' threshold you picked. So you would NOT forget them. SInce in SE4, ships don't use supplies unless moving, you could potentially sentry a ship or fleet and 'Never hear from them again"!!!

[CW]

So what's the point? Why does the button exist at all?

[Lisif Deoral]

It is useful if you use the next/previous ship button a lot (like I do).
Ships on sentry do not show up since they have an order (even if the order is "do nothing until you spot an enemy").

[CW]

quote:

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Ships on sentry do not show up since they have an order (even if the order is "do nothing until you spot an enemy").

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The Last bit is interesting. How will the ship react if it detects an enemy ship? Will it get moving and chase after it?

[Phoenix-D]

No, it just clears the Sentry order.

Phoenix-D

[capnq]

I rarely ever use the Next Ship button; I prefer looking at the F6 Ships/Orders list. When the Sentry order clears, I know an enemy has entered the system, and don't have to rely on spotting a new triangle on the Galaxy Map.

------------------
Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

[Dragonlord]

I ALWAYS use the next ship feature (space bar) it is excellent! Especially when I have 100+ ships, and because I never use any ministers.

The only bug with it I sometimes run into is that it will not always skip to ships which are in orbit of a planet with many other ships, while it should normally go to that ship. (ship has no orders, no sentry). SOmetimes are multiple hits of space bar the computer "wakes up" and finds the ship.
BTW I use Sentry a lot too, e.g. to park a frigate in an empty system as an early-warning scout until I can get some satelites to replace it.

[CW]

The way I do it is to have whole fleets of auxiliary ships following my attack fleets, and they always have big stockpiles of satellites, mines and other spares. No wonder I never seemed to need the sentry command.