“Okay marine! Listen up. We’ve got a massive onslaught of Xenomorphs headed straight for your position. Get those sentry guns up and ready!”
“But Sarge, the sentry guns won’t rotate. How do I get out of this chicken shit outfit?”
“Hudson . . . come here. Come here . . . look into my eye!”
Okay, jokes aside, the controls for rotating the sentry guns aren’t exactly intuitive in Aliens: Dark Descent. If you’re having trouble, the steps below will make this quick and easy.

Directions for Rotating Sentry Guns
- Select the sentry gun icon from the combat menu.
- Place the cursor over the spot you want to place the sentry gun.
- Rather than pressing the action button and releasing (PC: left-click, Xbox: A, PS4|5: X), press and hold the action button.
- While holding the action button, use the mouse or analogue stick to rotate the blue firing field that appears; when it is facing the direction you want, release the action button.
Once placed, sentry guns cannot be repositioned; in order to change directions, you will need to pick up and redeploy them.
Tips for Using the Sentry Guns Well
While highly effective, the sentry guns have a limited field of fire. The following tips will help ensure your sentry guns take down the most enemies and withstand encounters:
- Don’t let enemies sneak behind your turrets. Always use a second sentry gun to cover the opposite direction or place the additional turrets with overlapping fields of fire.
- If your marines will be positioned with your turrets rather than leaving the turrets unattended, place the marines behind the guns to cover the vulnerable portions.
- Use choke points: place sentry guns a little ways behind a point of entry into a room. This will funnel attacking enemies into your field of fire. Give enough space for the turret to kill advancing enemies before they reach the gun. (Xenomorph Runners are extremely fast and can sometimes get past sentry guns that are too close to the point of contact. Similarly, Xenomorph Warriors can leap over fields of fire that are too close to the point of contact.)
- Place turrets in corners of rooms or in areas with single access points. Using the environment as a natural defense or barrier can lead to better strategic outcomes.
- For added defense, select the “Upgrade” option when interacting with a placed sentry gun. This costs one tool point, but will increase the suppressing fire effect of the sentry gun.
Tell us what you think! What are your strategies for successfully using sentry guns in Aliens: Dark Descent? Share your reactions in the comments below or join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.
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Yes extremly helpful. Thank you.
Very helpful!
Thanks James!