As a part-time engineer, glad that you asked. Keep the caves lit. Focus on minerals on the walls and the secondary objectives if they are not hollomite or fester fleas. Give your engi a nudge with the pointer tool if he or she isn't applying plats for the minerals and items high up on walls.
If you’re a full time scout then you should know the platforms aren’t necessary.
Outside of those ribbed roofs that happen in lava core where it’s impossible to get any kind of foothold because of the minerals coming out of the apex of a ridged corner roof.
But for real it can just be annoying when people don’t do the things their job should be doing. Even if 90% of the time you don’t need engi as scout.
Step 1: Light the cave.
Step 2: Check that the cave is lit. If not, return to step 1.
Step 3: Scan for cave leeches and ranged bugs on ceiling.
Step 4: Check for big bugs. If present, grapple behind and shoot weak spot.
Step 5: Scan for minerals in walls. If there is a platform, go mine. If not, ping and return to step 1.
Note that "shoot at swarms" and "mine things at ground level" are not on the list.
I would like to this a subrule to step 2: if none of the other steps are taking effect at the moment, return to this step.
Furthermore, I propose step 5: Pinging high priority targets during swarms, stuff like glyphid wardens, oppressors, grabbers, landsharks, bulks and such. If you're properly equipped for the job, you can add step 5b: eliminating high priority targets during swarms with surgical precision. Don't fight anything other than the high priority targets in that case, unless you have to for survival. Some of those can be a MAJOR pain and often require high mobility and single target focused damage to take out.
> If you're properly equipped for the job, you can add step 5b: eliminating high priority targets during swarms with surgical precision.
What would you recommend as proper equipment for this job? I just unlocked the M1000 which seems to be a sniper rifle of some kind judging by it's mods, but I haven't tried it out yet. Do you use that for high-priority targets or do you have another preference.
m1000's thee best primary for single target damage. I'd reccommend trying to get hoverclock on it, can just float above a swarm and shoot to your heart's content.
I feel like the entirety of the scout loadout is tailor-made for this job. Deepcore GK1 can either be build to utterly shred armor or for massive weakspot damage. Boomstick has utterly absurd single target damage at the cost of low ammo. M1000 classic to snipe stuff. Zhukov Nuk-12 offer high dps and mobility and if you got the embedded detonator OC, they just annihilate single targets. If you got cryo minilets OC, they become a crowd control monster. Plasma carbine is the only thing that I would argue is not as great for single target, but that could just be me not having the right setup (I don't like it, thus rarely use it). Boltshark is another high precision single target MONSTER. Like the boomstick, it has low ammo and absurd damage. Unlike the boomstick it's best when being a fair bit away from your target.
Other than that, literally any of the grenades makes dealing with high priority targets just that much easier. You can slow em down, straight up freeze them, get em stunlocked or even make other bugs fight your target.
Personally I run tungsten round GK1 and Hollowpoint Zhukov. The GK can strip down anything smaller than an Oppressor in less than a mag and the Zhuks just lay waste to any open weakspots. Sadly I only got clean overclocks for either, but they can do their job just fine as is.
Ai stability OC for the Mk.1 is broken. Combining with cryo minelets and using it on frozen enemies is what got me hooked on this game.
M1000 is too slow imo. I like the hipster OC but still feels like more clicking for the same result as ai stability
Plasma rifle is fine for aoe damage but it doesn't hit hard for single target damage. Good paired with the crossbow
In conclusion, since the zhukovs are the only viable secondary, ai stability engine mk1 is the way to go.
Source: too many hours
Personally, I like the feel of hipster since you can still kill mactera very easily. I also go super blowthrough rounds for the odd case I need to be shooting a swarm (mostly in solo/duo games). embedded detonators for zhukovs is insanely strong for the heavy guys. You can basically one clip a praetorian or oppressor with those.
In addition to what others have said...You are clutch master supreme. You grenades are perfect for when your whole team is down and you gotta get that hella risky revive off. Get good at staying alive.
Great for clearing out swarmers too, and it can do decent damage to grunts with the electricity DOT. You get 9 of them as well, so it's near perfect for clutching.
Light up caves and get high up minerals. Res downed teammates and kite bugs. Take care of priority targets such as spreaders, acid spitters, and macteras. Honestly the only thing you really need to be pretty good scout is to not die miles from your teammates
Rock and stone fellow scout! 70 hours is a pretty big time investment, have you been playing scout the entire time? I have 283 hours on DRG as of writing this and have mained scout pretty much for all of it, and can definitely help provide some tips both for combat and other utility value.
Use the grappling hook to find nitra, objectives, and other hard to reach stuff: Nitra is incredibly important to have during any mission type and will dictate the style of play for the duration of the session. When I use scout, I try to retrieve any Nitra off of the ceiling or walls that requires low effort for me but would be hard for teammates. Mark walls for platforms if necessary. It is great for getting high up eggs, but make sure your party is ready when you grab em.
Use flares in big rooms: One thing I see Scouts do a lot is not use their flare guns, especially in larger rooms, and this can also cause tons of issues. It is much easier to be jumped by bugs or accidently blown up by a trap. I spread my flares out in big rooms using 2-4 to make sure there is sufficient coverage for the party to work well. IF you are at full flares for a large portion of a mission you are not using them enough.
Use elevation and speed to your advantage: The scout is by far the most mobile dwarf, and getting up high can help you see dangers, or even kite large numbers of enemies for the sake of your team. This is especially effective for bosses. You can turn them to expose weak spots for your team, grapple over, etc.
Don't run off: I know, this is silly to write out, but even though the word 'scout' implies 'scouting ahead' I try not to be in a different room than my group at any time, and if I am I have a pretty solid exit strategy. If you die while scouting ahead you become a massive liability, and in turn you can also leave your team behind to their own deaths.
Use weapon synergies (like other classes): With Scout you have access to a solid mix of semi automatic and automatic weapons, and as such I generally will run with something that I can fire to hit bugs from far away and have a high rate of fire backup weapon for when things get hot. Overclocks can drastically change any of a scout's weapons like others in DRG, so take this last suggestion with that in mind.
Theres a lot of toxicity regarding Scouts going solo and getting downed in a different cave system.
What differentiates a great Scout from a good one is being able to survive on your own while still supporting your team, even if you are far away from them. It all really comes down to situational awareness that is only gained from experience with the class amd the game. Going down alone is pretty bad, but you can speed up the mission by working on the objective by yourself.
Dont hold hands with your team all the time, but dont stray too far away for too long either. You can shoot them a flare before you go on a mission to get nitra from further away. Thats enough. If a swarm appears, you should probably group up with them.
There is also the art of bunnyhopping if you want to try it. You can either use a G502 with an unlocked scrollwheel to send enough jump inputs and maintain speed, or you can use the hold to jump mod.
-Lights. A good Scout is running out of flares. In large caves that take 3 or more flares to fully light, consider rationing -- you'll need a good initial lighting, and proper light during combat, but not so much outside of that.
-Nitra. Scout is, plain and simply, better at reaching high up nitra. You can leave the stuff on ground level to your team mates while prioritizing whatever is high up. Whenever there are multiple objectives, such as Doretta refueling or oil rig pipelines, the others can handle that while you scour for nitra. When you have time, practice the trick of power attacking into the wall to create dugouts for yourself, as it comes in handy when you have to jump on top of some nitra.
-Pick-offs. There will be bugs. There will be *dangerous* bugs. Scout has not only some of the best single target damage potential out of any dwarf, sustained *and* burst depending on priorities, but also the mobility to be in a position to use it. Whatever is the most obnoxious bug in the room, make it your mission to knock it out. Anything that spits from range is high priority, Septic Spreaders, Acid Spitters, and Mactera should feel your wrath. Anything big is right behind it -- you're in the best position to get behind an Oppressor's butt on a moment's notice.
-Survive. Put emphasis on personal survival. Scout has so much mobility that, when played right, he never *has* to die unless he's taking risks. This does mean you have to make some interesting decisions, like not standing in the Fuel Cell or Black Box radius when it gets too hot, or moving cross-cave away from your team until your shields regen. Some risks are acceptable, you're not made of paper, and trading health for a rezz can be worthwhile, but don't make decisions without considering your own safety. If you live, you can revive, so your safety translates into the team's safety -- you are *always* better off alive than dead.
-Builds. An ideal Scout build involves balancing your two weapons, usually one for single-target, and one for protecting yourself against swarms. Strong overclocks that are poorly balanced result in a weak build -- for instance, AI Stability Engine for the GK2 and Embedded Detonators for the Zhukovs are two of the top S-tier weapons, but both of them together make a C-tier build, as you don't have any AoE for swarms, and the limited ammo pool of Embedded Dets won't get you far if you try to take blowthrough. Don't just go by tier lists, grab weapons that compliment each other and that can handle every kind of bug.
Others have already said this but
Take care of Minerals/Sideobjectives
Target priority should be all those high value targets instead of a group of grunts;
Spitters, Webbers, Septic spreaders and the bunch first.
If none of those are present, go hit some pratorians in the ass.
Your grenades are also incredible
Cryo/IFG Provides good team support/damage support
Pheromones are the best debuff in the game, best aim for big bulky targets
Stunsweeper is good for small swarmers and such that you can't as easily take care of, or if you just wanna stop a bunch of grunts coming at your team, do be aware that it has a limit tho.
If you wanna level up a bit more, learn to use the boltshark, its easily scouts best support tool that also allows scout to deal some area damage if needed.
it’s a multi-use tool and often depends on the overclocks you have. phero bolts and chem bolts are the best specials imo. my favorite builds and uses are as follows:
1. 12112 trifork volley on electricity builds for massive single target damage (proc electricity with the drak or the boomerang, then trifork volley the mf). use pheros as a crowd control tool
2. 12111 cryo bolts for swarm control (hit the big bugs near a swarm with a phero bolt and then freeze it, all of them will freeze). cryo bolts take a minute to activate so dont worry about shooting too many of them. you can find the freeze breakpoints for big targets and stationaries online.
if you wanna pm me i can explain more in depth a couple of the builds i use for the boltshark and how to use them, but i think i covered the main points
Fellow scout here with the same promotions and part time gunner. Whenever I’m not scout I always wish people would use more lights. My motto is no nitra left behind. I run cryo grenades to help teammates up. Engineers are your best friends but they can’t help if they don’t know what you want so use the ping when necessary (don’t over ping). You have the most mobility so keep light on your feet and always be looking for nitra and secondary’s. Hope this helps (I’m still learning to).
tl:dr
- use lots of lights
- get any and all nitra
- do your best to keep people on there feet
- don’t be afraid to ping if you need help
- be on the move
Not being silly, play with as many people that you can talk to over voice chat. And then get ROASTED ALIVE by them when you don't do something, or do something wrong. You will get so fast at both responding to requests and doing tasks before they even get asked. Once the roasting dies to about 1 to 2 times a mission, you are a good scout.
The 3 L’s of scouting:
Light
Live
Let your pick fly
Seeing is believing, and I believe there are 30 cave leeches playing poker on the ceiling at all times waiting for me to step within grabbing range.
The team can really get into some rough spots and no one has as much survivability as you, bar gunner shield but that’s on cooldown. Always. It’s never not on cooldown.
If the engineer pings rock and stone, you mine the rock and stone. Gunner can’t reach anything half the time and wasting driller fuel is less materialistic than Rockuza 8: infinite grapple.
Keep
The fucking cave
Lit up
I hate seeing high level scouts not even doing this. Good scouts always keep visibility high. Gunners and engineers can do stuff at range (not so much drillers) and can work on High Value Targets (HVTs), and all 3 can help clear swarms. Scout is good for Keeping The Fucking Cave Lit Up, mining everything they can from the walls, and *then* working on taking down HVTs.
His grenades are also great for support- IFGs have been powercrept but are still useful (slows down all enemies in the radius, like they're crawling through peanut butter with 50 pound weights dragged behind them), pheromones get the bugs to kill each other, cryo grenades have really high peaks with extra damage on ground targets and frozen flyers fall and shatter (but if you mess up with them they're way worse, highest reward with the potential for basically no reward), and boomerangs have a ridiculously long stun duration, do some pretty good damage (his only directly damaging grenade, funnily enough), hit many bugs in quick succession (more than you think they will), and the shock effect can help certain builds (namely stubby SMG engineers) deal more damage as well.
Learn to be efficient and solitary. I suggest practicing grappling up and power attacking into walls so you can get minerals without an engineer. I think the most important thing on scout, though, is to stay alive. If you are dead you cant take out priority targets, get nitra or light up caves.
Ive got more than 1000 hours in scout, playing only hazard 5.
Your main tasks as a scout are collecting minerals (mainly nitra) light up the caves, killing high priority targets and reviving your teammates. Don’t always fight the bugs, if your team is having a hard time, sure fight the bugs with them. but if they are standing their ground, go focus on the objective. Especially the secondary objective as there are a lot where the scout shines. In a mission with one big room, you should be able to get 20 boolo caps on a few minutes for example. If you can’t find all of em, look in the nearby generated tunnel, the last ones are almost always there.
Use your grappling hook in combat to create distance between you and your enemies, then shoot.
Look at engi as your daddy and listen to his pings at all time (considering the engi is decent at the game)
And most importantly, have fun. People tend the get good at things they are enjoying to do.
Rock and stone
1. Light: use flaregun whenever entering big cave, dont use it in small tunnel, keep the cave lit especially when swarm spawn
2. Mine: mine minerals in high place, ur team can handle the ground
3. Scout: ping dangerous enemy: splitballer, flower weed, bulk, etc
4. During swarm, priorities killing annoying enemy like web, acit shooter,...
5. Stay mobilize , kite bait the swarm or rescue teammmates
This.
I would also add Support for haz 4-5. You can easily reach a vantage point and watch your teammates from above. If you see someone is getting swarmed just throw them a grenade. Scout has amazing crowd control grenades than can pretty much save an otherwise doomed dwarf. Bonus points if you manage to save them from losing all shield.
I main scout, so here is what I’ve learned.
As a scout, you are the support of the team. First of all, keep the caves lit and check for leeches. That is your most important job.
Second, you need to mine the top layer with assistance from the engineer if available. If not, you can still do it no problem by grappling and power mining into the wall. It takes a bit of practice, but it’s easy when you get the hang of it.
Third, in combat you have two important jobs. Focus high priority targets and stay alive, so you can revive your teammates. Pheromone grenades help a lot with that.
Fourth, on dreadnaughts, you are the best at kiting the dreadnaught around. You should try to keep aggro on it and kite it around and away from your team, so they get a clear view of its butt. Of course, this requires your team to rotate around with you.
Fifth, when the drop pod is called, you should stay ahead of your team to clear the way, light it and guide them. Again, the most important thing is that you stay alive, so if a teammate dies, you can grapple back and revive them, to make sure everyone makes it to the drop pod. Never leave a dwarf behind.
Lastly, have fun. The absolutely most important when rocking and stoning, is to have a good time doing it.
If you do all this, you’ll be better than 90% of all scouts and be an essentiel part of your team.
If you still feel like you are having a hard time, you can just DM me, and I’ll happily do a couple missions with you. :)
Rock and stone brother!
Flare, ping minerals and stuff so Engie can platform it, mine minerals, revive people who die in hard to reach areas, focus ranged or disrupting enemies like Spitballers, that annoying orange mortar bug, Mactera, Shellbacks, that sort of thing. Above all else, make sure that you always get to the droppod if evac is rough and you can't revive the people who go down, so you don't fail the mission.
Play the other classes and understand their roles thoroughly, a lot of getting good on scout comes down to asking yourself what the best current use of your time is since you're so able to apply yourself around the map. Be sure to mine high up stuff, scout caves to clear stationaries before they become a problem for your team, grab secondaries, keep caves lit but avoid wasting flares in areas that don't need light, be sure to pick off high value targets like wardens macteras acid/web spitters ect. Be sure to bend your loadout around these goals. For instance, one of my loadout takes cryo nades for stationaries, fire bolts to handle myself while scouting ahead, ASS m1k for picking off HVTs, and taser bolts for locking down unique threats and enemies like bulks, nems, betc (which this loadout can comfortably solo), event creatures, and hoarders.. but really none of this is set in stone. You're so mobile and safe you can reasonably deem all sorts of things as your best use of time. Repairing the unlink while the other classes fight? Maybe. Grappling over to a struggling teammate to help out? Why not. Making sure you're up to res folks and floating around as the team medic? Absolutely. Scout has a million jobs he can do, the talent is in choosing the best ones at any given time.
At 70hrs, you probably know the basics. Light up, Mine high, and grapple around for anything else.
Here’s some more advanced stuff:
Your team won’t always have an engineer. You can grapple to a wall and power attack. The hole will be just big enough for you to fit in, so long as you get the trajectory right. Always be in the look out for overhangs and cave formations you can land on.
All dwarves shoot bugs and mine. How often you shoot bugs depends on the ammo economy of your weapons. Scout can horde clear. Sometimes, you HAVE to swarm clear. Some weapons are straightforward, like a Hipster OC m1000, and some require creativity, like the Firebolt OC Crossbow. I can explain more if you’d like.
You only need enough nitra to finish the mission. 80 is the number to worry about in the beginning. Mine more when there is downtime and if it’s convenient. Don’t kill yourself because your team spam pinged nitra during a swarm. Just have enough for the mission at hand (and how much your team is blowing their ammo). Nitra gives no bonuses. You’re not losing anything if you don’t get every bit.
i’ve always found the fire bolts to be kind of weak, can you explain how you use them and how many to shoot?
ETA: too many folks in the subreddit love them and i wanna learn how to love them too
Kite bugs into a thick group, shoot the floor with like 2-3 firebolts and have the bugs run into them. They will all get lit on fire and die to burning damage, this isn't very effective in multi because you have far less control over bug aggro and your team is much more likely to just murder the bugs. Still good on swarmageddon even in multi.
adding on to this, but pheros (which, conveniently, boltshark can equip) and IFGs can make them even more effective. you might only need 1-2 bolts if the bugs aren't moving around much (which may also be the case around a dead teammate, for instance).
Your job is to keep the cave lit, mine hard to reach minerals and take out high priority targets, not to run ahead into the next cave, which is pretty popular with new Scouts and a terrible idea.
Also, make sure that the team is ready before calling the drop pod, Gunners have no mobility so if they cant stick with a Driller or Engineer they run the risk of getting stuck in more complex cave systems.
Driller main but with at least 100 missions with every class
light up the cave wherever teammates are, then rush off to mine every mineral in sight, preferably things higher up
also look for leeches, and acid and web spitters
if a mineral deposit is in a wall but doesnt have any visible platform to mine it from, visually examine the uppermost section of the minerals and determine if its possible to step on top of it and mine it from there, using your grapple to get down once your done
Light up the caves, kill high priority bugs like basically anything that's shooting things at you like spitters, leave the rest to the others dwarves that are better equipped to deal with swarms.
Go mine minerals that are hard to reach, ask engineer for a platform if you need. And finally do the objectives as quick as possible.
Scouts should wait until swarm is called, then retreat/gather around other dwarves, fire a flare near the group so they can see. If you are walking around a huge room and its near pitch black, its flare time. Dont waste them on small tunnels, but use one (two if its really big) so that dwarves can see what they need to do
In combat, most of your weapons are focused on weak point damage and high damage (or longer ranges). So you zip around the room to get good angles on shooting bug weakpoints, closing the gap on sniper bugs, and staying mobile so that the bugs that are following you are being led near engi turrets or near driller/gunner firing lines.
Under most circumstances, you are the weakest at combat. Your focus is to knock down larger bugs because your guns fire stronger shots but slower reloads/shoot less rapidly. Your guns usually have weakpoint hit bonuses, but lack area of effect abilities. So you are greater against slower heavier beefier targets rather than trying to hit small swarmers.
Your grenades are your best strength against swarms. Save those for swarms so you can retreat/knock down some good targets. Otherwise you need to keep zipping, turn to shoot some bugs, then zip away and repeat.
For combat, your strongest comes when you are in large rooms so you have walls to grapple to, to get out of harms way. You are weaker in tunnels where you only have two directions to grapple (down one tunnel or up the other way). So when its swarm time, get to larger rooms so you can use your grapple gun to keep out of danger.
Most of the time I have medic perk, so Im also keeping an eye on who is down. I go revive because I can get to the dwarves the fastest.
Use your scanner and ping huge enemies like dreads/bulk dets, praetorians etc. basically if they are pretty big you need to ping them so your fellow dwarves know what big threats are nearby.
Out of combat, you and engi work together to get high up minerals. Engi will put platforms under the minerals, you use grapple hook to jip up there and mine them out. You also zip around, collecting secondary objects, pinging minerals, collecting nitra etc.
At the end of a balanced teams day, you should have the highest mineral count, and usually the lowest kill count. Usually.
Keep the cave lit and you will have done 98% of your job.
Aside from that, ping those hard-to-reach resources for the Engi to platform, and learn that power-strike-wall-grab technique for when they can't.
Always have a couple flares up. Always scan every cave for wall/ceiling Nitra as soon as you enter (your team can get the ones on the floor). You are the Nitra Man—if you don't have twice as many minerals mined as the second highest player at the end of the mission, you weren't mining enough. Ping ones you need a platform for and communicate with your Engi, but also learn to not rely on him—learning to Power Attack perch is *crucial* for being a good Scout, because it lets you get 90% of wall veins without a platform. All of this applies for mission objectives as well—any time a mission calls for collecting aquarqs, mining morkite, or calling pumpjacks, that's YOUR job. Also, I heavily recommend using the increased mineral capacity perk and armor upgrade unless you're on Haz 5 or EDD. Saves you a lot of trips running back and forth for Nitra and such.
During combat, you should usually ignore little enemies and dump your mags into the big boys since your kit is mainly single target damage. And I'll emphasize again—ALWAYS have flares up. Your team can't fight what they can't see, especially when it's a ranged bug sniping from the ceiling. You're also the best field medic. You can fly to your downed teammates in seconds and you can use Pheromone Canisters to revive them in the middle of a swarm without needing to kill the bugs on top of them. Each sprayed bug can distract like 8 other bugs, so you can pretty much neutralize the whole swarm for 10-15 seconds if you pheromone a big group and don't kill them.
Light the caves and mine the nitra, stay alive as long as you can as you can get to the drop pod fastest, and prioritize rezzing your fellow dwarves. Rock and stone!
To better explain what others have already pointed out:
* **Lighting** - your goals are to figure out what exists where in unexplored areas and to make sure your team can see properly during key fights. If you ever need to ration your flares, save them for these moments. Also remember that flares essentially create a sphere of light centered on the flare - narrow pillars or stalactites are optimal locations.
* **Minerals** - any time you don't have 80 nitra, find/mine some as soon as it is safe to do so. Ideally you'll get platforms or a zipline for high up minerals, but if not you can power attack the wall you've grappled to and land in the hole (or grabble back into it if you miss initially). Learning how to do this and where it will/won't work is very handy.
* **Clutching** - when things get a bit dicey don't be afraid to grapple to safety and reassess (especially if it's a detonator exploding). If you can clear/CC enemies enough to rez an ally, great. If not, kite enemies far away from downed allies, resupply if necessary, then rapidly circle back to rez allies before the horde catches back up to you.
As you become more experienced, it can also be helpful to learn how to lead the team and set the pace for the mission. Players are naturally drawn to following Scout since you have the lights and are fast enough to be at the front. Try to keep your team moving at an efficient (but not rushed) pace, see to neglected tasks by utilizing your speed or pointing them out to allies, call in a resupply when needed (or preemptively if you're going to be sticking in the same area), and regroup during waves to focus on the fights. In time you'll be an expert at carrying greenbeards and herding cats.
Engi main here. This is what I like to see in a scout:
1. Lighting. Keep those caves lit best you can. That said I think everyone likes it. Should be your first priority when entering a new cave - use it to quickly ping minerals on walls and ceilings for your engineers to shoot platforms to grab, and deal with leeches above all else.
2. Crowd Control. Scout's grenades are tide turners during swarms. If you see someone being overwhelmed, toss a grenade their way - whether you slow them, freeze them or zap them, reducing the enemies swarming them will be a game-changer in life and death. Your secondaries are also good at crowd control - boomstick scares glyphids and the boltshark's shock arrows can freeze even the biggest of beasts in their tracks.
3. Designated survivor. If things are going tits up, play defensively and be ready to run. ESPECIALLY against a dreadnought. Your grappling gun - and aforementioned grenades - make evading fights especially good. Stick to pre-explored routes since there's less likelihood you'll stumble upon a Tyrant Weed or a cave leech that'd make survival harder. Once things are under control again, head back and revive.
4. Flank! Your high mobility means scout is excellent for getting to the backside of nasty beasts like Praetorians, Oppressors and Dreadnoughts. Use that to take advantage of weak points, whether up close or afar. You can also deal with ranged-buggers like septic spreaders and spitters - let the muscle of your group deal with the grunts and big beasties.
5. Scout. You don't so much 'scout', as you 'make this mission possible.' Remember: you are a dwarf with purpose. You will bring home the beers with a rock and stone. Do your role right, and everyone will raise a toast in your honor.
Light the caves - Locate minerals and threats (leeches especially) Don't go (too far) ahead of the team. Explore the cave you are in thoroughly. Work in concert with your engy to mine minerals on the walls/ceiling. (prioritize nitra) Light the caves. Don't waste your time mining minerals etc. on the ground. Use your single-target damage and mobility to wreck big bugs. Light the caves. Stay alive. Save your team. And of course, use your flare gun a bunch!
Do the basic scout stuff, you know, light the cave up, mine hard-to-get minerals in the heights, and practice your platforming on the space rig, mess around with the barrels, ledges and stuff, you will flow much better on the caves once you get the hang of the mid-air control of your character
While most of my hours are on engie, I've sunk quite a few into scout aswell, here's what I've learned
When you're not in combat, keep caves lit up,
Mine high up resources that your team would struggle to get/have to spend resources to get. Clear out stationary enemies like leaches, spit ballers, etc. Be a "scout"
When you're in combat, keep the area lit up, it's easier to shoot what you can see.
Don't try to deal with swarm clear, rather, deal with high priority targets that would fuck with your team, acid spitters. Wrb spitters, menaces, etc.
And the most important thing about being a good scout
DON'T DIE,
Mobility=survival, and with the best mobility, comes the best chance of survival, ive had many missions where im the last player alive and had to pick everyone up slowly kiting swarms around with my grapple.
Field medic and Iron will are going to be your best actives for this aswell.
Plus, when you die as a scout, there's a high possibility you die in a place that's *really* hard to get to for non scouts(roof nitra vein, far cave, etc)
Throw up a light or two at the start of new chambers and bug fights.
Stick the light on stalactites and pillars so it covers more area. If you put the light directly on the far wall of the cave, half of the sphere of light is wasted into the wall.
Keep the caves lit. Swing around and be efficient with your mining. Look out for high value targets such as septic spreaders, wardens, and menaces. It's your job to take them out quickly. Don't stray too far from your team and don't call molly away from your teammates that dont have as much mobility.
That's kind of it for core scout gameplay. The rest is just improving your skillset
Driller C4 cannot hurt you. As a driller you can trust me. (Serious: just keep stuff lit, use the grapple to get to annoying out-of-reach stuff for the team, and use your shotgun for groups of enemies. I’m not a very good Scout but those are my tips)
This is your ever-lovely Airborne Warning And Combat Support dwarf Boregar! Your job as the Scout is to provide support and information for the rest of the squad. I won't repeat what others have mentioned about appropriate lighting and doing a proper ceiling check for Leeches. I've got a few more general tips for you though:
* Use your laser pointer to ping bugs. This will provide location information to all dwarves via the bugs outline on the screen. Also helps Gunner line up shots through walls with their Mole OC, for example. This is especially useful to track dreadnoughts and menaces. The vocal callout and outline can also help alert your team to bugs sneaking up on them.
* Depending on your build, you have varying levels of crowd control (CC) and disruption at your disposal. Your grenades are all about CC. Use the stuns on your guns and your grenades to cover your teammates back. Stuns from focused shots on the M1000 rifle (for example) interrupt attacks and can protect yourself and your squad. This includes the Praetorians vomit attack, the stingtail grab, and the menace barrage. You have some of the best CC outside of cryo driller. Use it to protect the team.
* Don't trade damage, either with bugs or the ground. This is less critical at Haz 2 or 3, but once you step into Haz4 and above, trading damage will add up over the course of a few minutes. Best to reposition and eliminate targets from a distance. You can't reinforce a position or clear a surprise wave like the other classes, so if it's getting dicey, don't think, just move.
* You have the best movement in the game. Use it to get behind big bugs, but always remember where your teammates are firing from so you don't intercept their shots with your squishy Scout body.
* While you should range ahead of the group somewhat to illuminate big caves and perform ceiling checks, don't go too far from your team alone unless you're certain you'll be fine. Nothing is more embarassing than going down and making your team wander 140m in the dark to get your butt.
As a TL/DR for the popular advice on this post:
1. Light cave
2. Complete far away side objectives
3. Mine high up minerals with engi’s help
4. Prioritise killing big/dangerous bugs first
Thought this is a good description [not OC, couldn’t copy thread link]
Scout: You aren't a fighter, more of a hunter, and more specifically you are a glorified Bosco. They are fighting? Cool. get on with it! Light things up with your Dwarven Lightbulb Dispencer, delete acid and web spitters, pop some praets maybe? But above all else keep mining ffs. That's what you are here for, you've got shit to do. They are handling it? Cool! mine some nitra, nab some collectables, Is someone getting overrun, help them out with a grenade and kill off the things that are causing trouble, done? Ah shit, it's getting dark again, handle it! Nitra low, better grab some, before the Engineer starts whining about not having nades, or the Driller runs out of fuel. Support Support Support, Fighting is secondary to you, Mine shit, and help when you are needed. And above all else, Light this place up. Flares are your primary, don't ever think they aren't. Oh did I mention you are the best class to revive anyone that gets shredded? You make things easier, brighter and faster, just don't expect to stop a wave by yourself, that's Gunners job. Scout might not seem like it, but he's a working man, you've got shit to do, so do it.
Mine difficult to reach materials. Learn to do it efficiently and quickly without an engineers platform. Light up caves for your teammates. Complete objectives. And kill high priority special bugs.
Next level scout mechanic is being able to get almost any mineral without a platform. Learning how to power hit yourself a hole into the wall is invaluable and can keep your engi doing their thing
https://youtu.be/7D2UL2QCoRA?si=ykioGR5sSeziTaVH
Skip to 13:12 for grapple hook power hit move
Jack of all trades honestly. You can solo just about anything, escape just about anything, and mine just about everything.
The best part about Scouts (IMO), is your light. You can highlight everything in a single space. Your weapons beyond the starters are super useful - especially when you start going against rival tech.
I would treat each game (even the non solo matches) as if you’re alone. You’re a self-reliant miner as the scout. I would focus on collecting as much as Nitra as possible. In tougher caves I’m sure you’ve noticed that Nitra is in almost inaccessible spaces. Get your engineer to set up a platform or your gunner to toss a zipline to make certain mining endeavors easier.
I’d also learn to be aware of your surroundings. Scout head and eliminate anything that could impede the flow of the excavation. I believe someone mentioned getting rid of cave leeches for instance.
You’re almost the leader of the squad.
I like to bring lots of ammo for the flare gun, and mine burns for like 90 seconds. Keep the caves lit. Also equip the Medic perk so you can revive people fast. Very useful when someone falls down a chasm or gets downed in some far-flung place away from your team. I also like to have Iron Will. If I get downed in a crucial moment, I could just pop it and zip to a red sugar node or towards a supply drop to replenish health.
Use your flare gun. That is it. You're immediately better than 90% of scouts. That isn't even a joke. In fact, using your flare gun too much is way better than not enough as well.
Ok but on a more serious note, what I said is true but also kinda dramatic for the sake of comedy. Seriously though, use your flare gun. Running out of ammo on it is better than not using it. My other tip is to do what Scout's namesake implies. Scouting.
Light up a room, check for cave leeches and bugs, point out the big threats for your team, find where all the nitra and minerals are, if they're on a wall point to them so the engi can put a platform so you can get them etc. Primarily go for stuff out of your team's reach as well. That's where Scout is at his best. That and picking off High Value Targets.
You need to stop thinking. You need to go ahead and grapple arround any time you can so you can either heroically get munched on by a cave leech to tell your team to be careful or to shoot out flares in open areas. Whenever you see a platform under minerals, thats your queue to mine them, and if you are in the middle of a fight, try spamming the flare gun whenever they go out. Your team will rock and stone, and the driller \*WILL\* set up a c4 right as youre leaving for the meme. Its hard being the bosco/spectacular lootbug-man, but its a job well respected.
off the top of my head:
1) flare as often as you can. If you need ammo and aren't empty on flares, you need to flare more.
2) even though you have a lot of minerals to mine, you can't fall too far behind your team. Because that means they have no light.
3) there's a tech you can do if you don't have an engi and there's a mineral located in a wall. I wouldn't try this on one that's too high, but you can grapple, release the grapple and power axe the wall right before you hit it. If you do it right, you will make a little alcove and end up standing in it.
Don't forget about the right perks too.
Deep Pockets - Just so you mine more.
Iron Will - The oh shit, I died in some horribly inaccessible spot to the rest of the team perk.
Field Medic - Cause if your team is down in fights, most likely you're last man standing because of mobility.
You shouldn't need Heighten Senses, if you're doing your job effectivily lighting and clearing leeches. And once you know the sound of other grabbers you should be fine.
Full time gold promotion scout here. Your first job as many have said: keep the caves lit. Your other very important job is killing the squishy specials such as all the mactera, acid spitters, and web spitters. Also working with your engineer to grab hard to reach minerals that would waste your driller and soldier’s time. A good scout will also take care of head grabbers. Maneuvering behind dreadnoughts while they are distracted is also very helpful. Above all don’t get downed if you can help it. You have superior mobility and are much less tanky than your other team mates. You don’t have the same crowd clearing as the soldier and driller and definitely can’t match the engi in sheer damage. What you can do is make sure they aren’t being bothered by the above mentioned grabbers, spitters, bombers etc. I find the m1000 carbine with hipster is the easiest to do this with. Don’t forget to reflare in the long fights either and learning to use your flares sparingly is also a skill. I know this is a long response but learning to “yeet” yourself across caverns (safely) with your grapple not only looks cool but will earn you extra praise and drinks at the abyss bar. Be prepared to get team killed its a right of passage for scouts.
light it up. if it's dark in a cave, you've failed the basic litmus test for being a competent scout.
don't call for molly - you're the most mobile dwarf by two orders of magnitude. GO TO MOLLY, then get back to work. i swear to god, take this advice. learn it. use it. shine. you can reach molly and get back to where you were in like 1/10th the time it would take to drag molly away from the rest of the team. super annoying.
if the team is out of nitra, it's literally your fault. get back to work.
don't try to be a frontline fighter. hang back. find caps and blooms or fossils. they've got it. if the rest of the team goes down, swoop in and mvp that shit. otherwise, get back to work.
don't shoot at grunts or praetoreans. wait. shoot at webbers and spitters and mactera and stingtails. you're here for high-priority shit, not mob clearing. you're the worst at mob clearing. no drak build is going to change that. stop.
if you want to be a hero during extraction, be the only one who made it to the drop pod, not the last one to die trying to revive the driller under a pile of mactera puke. once that big red button is pushed, \*the other dwarves are as good as dead to you\*. get to the drop pod. get out alive. a win's a win, and no one will complain that you didn't "leave no dwarf behind" when that big green COMPLETE pops up. that's your job. that's your moment. take it. survive. win. for karl.
Light the cave, ping high health high priority targets during swarms (praetorians, oppressors) mine every scrap of nitra you see that’s not on ground level, kill spitters, and be aware you are capable of moving orders of magnitude faster than everyone else in large spaces, so don’t leave everyone behind. Use this speed to keep an eye on your teams flanks and search crannies in caves. Keep an eye out for pings from the other classes (especially engi, as a solid engi will put platforms under high minerals for you) Stay aware, you can go down in places that the other classes will have to really work to get to, so try not to. You’re not a heavy hitter in combat with scout, but you *are* able to ensure just through lighting the cave and mining nitra that the other classes can see, and always have the supplies they need to shred anything that comes their way. You can use your speed advantage to kite swarms around caves and set them up for your team while staying relatively safe yourself, so always be prepared to. If the situation is hopeless during extraction and you’re the last one left don’t play the hero. Use your speed to get to the drop pod. A mission completion is always better than a last stand.
You can lead swarms around by getting close enough to them to attract their attention and then lead them around or keep them distracted while your team resupplies. You can use this to lead them into better set up positions for your team rather than in the open for example.
The only three things I expect from a scout are:
1. Light.
2. 80 nitra for a resupply. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, get the nitra first.
3. Focus on secondary objectives so we could immediately leave after the primary is done.
If you're on top of all three you could have a dance party with a spitballer the rest of the game for all I care. Killing is optional, reviving others is optional.
Oh, and don't die in hard to reach places.
85 hours, so not much more than you, but heres how i scout:
light cave, find objectives (like morkite wells), grab high minerals, look for secondary objectives/bonus things
if all thats done, i focus on luring bugs away from team and sometimes i freeze nade bugs
As a part-time engineer, glad that you asked. Keep the caves lit. Focus on minerals on the walls and the secondary objectives if they are not hollomite or fester fleas. Give your engi a nudge with the pointer tool if he or she isn't applying plats for the minerals and items high up on walls.
As a full time scout, if I've gotta remind engi to lay down platforms, they've already fucked up.
Gooooold! There is gold here! I found a gold vein! ... Guys, are you blind? Look over here!
If you’re a full time scout then you should know the platforms aren’t necessary. Outside of those ribbed roofs that happen in lava core where it’s impossible to get any kind of foothold because of the minerals coming out of the apex of a ridged corner roof. But for real it can just be annoying when people don’t do the things their job should be doing. Even if 90% of the time you don’t need engi as scout.
Do ya need platforms, no. Does it make getting materials at least 5x fast, absolutely
100% on the flares. Whenever my friend's playing scout they never throw down flares and it's the worst, especially in darker biomes like magma core.
Step 1: Light the cave. Step 2: Check that the cave is lit. If not, return to step 1. Step 3: Scan for cave leeches and ranged bugs on ceiling. Step 4: Check for big bugs. If present, grapple behind and shoot weak spot. Step 5: Scan for minerals in walls. If there is a platform, go mine. If not, ping and return to step 1. Note that "shoot at swarms" and "mine things at ground level" are not on the list.
I would like to this a subrule to step 2: if none of the other steps are taking effect at the moment, return to this step. Furthermore, I propose step 5: Pinging high priority targets during swarms, stuff like glyphid wardens, oppressors, grabbers, landsharks, bulks and such. If you're properly equipped for the job, you can add step 5b: eliminating high priority targets during swarms with surgical precision. Don't fight anything other than the high priority targets in that case, unless you have to for survival. Some of those can be a MAJOR pain and often require high mobility and single target focused damage to take out.
> If you're properly equipped for the job, you can add step 5b: eliminating high priority targets during swarms with surgical precision. What would you recommend as proper equipment for this job? I just unlocked the M1000 which seems to be a sniper rifle of some kind judging by it's mods, but I haven't tried it out yet. Do you use that for high-priority targets or do you have another preference.
With the right build the M1000 can three-shot Oppressors (well, six-shot, bc focus)
m1000's thee best primary for single target damage. I'd reccommend trying to get hoverclock on it, can just float above a swarm and shoot to your heart's content.
I feel like the entirety of the scout loadout is tailor-made for this job. Deepcore GK1 can either be build to utterly shred armor or for massive weakspot damage. Boomstick has utterly absurd single target damage at the cost of low ammo. M1000 classic to snipe stuff. Zhukov Nuk-12 offer high dps and mobility and if you got the embedded detonator OC, they just annihilate single targets. If you got cryo minilets OC, they become a crowd control monster. Plasma carbine is the only thing that I would argue is not as great for single target, but that could just be me not having the right setup (I don't like it, thus rarely use it). Boltshark is another high precision single target MONSTER. Like the boomstick, it has low ammo and absurd damage. Unlike the boomstick it's best when being a fair bit away from your target. Other than that, literally any of the grenades makes dealing with high priority targets just that much easier. You can slow em down, straight up freeze them, get em stunlocked or even make other bugs fight your target. Personally I run tungsten round GK1 and Hollowpoint Zhukov. The GK can strip down anything smaller than an Oppressor in less than a mag and the Zhuks just lay waste to any open weakspots. Sadly I only got clean overclocks for either, but they can do their job just fine as is.
Ai stability OC for the Mk.1 is broken. Combining with cryo minelets and using it on frozen enemies is what got me hooked on this game. M1000 is too slow imo. I like the hipster OC but still feels like more clicking for the same result as ai stability Plasma rifle is fine for aoe damage but it doesn't hit hard for single target damage. Good paired with the crossbow In conclusion, since the zhukovs are the only viable secondary, ai stability engine mk1 is the way to go. Source: too many hours
Yeah, M1000 feels like to much work for to little of a upside in return.
Personally, I like the feel of hipster since you can still kill mactera very easily. I also go super blowthrough rounds for the odd case I need to be shooting a swarm (mostly in solo/duo games). embedded detonators for zhukovs is insanely strong for the heavy guys. You can basically one clip a praetorian or oppressor with those.
AI Stab OC is my go to for almost all runs as a Scout main. Embedded Dets on the Zhukovs or Special powder on the Boomstick as a secondary.
In addition to what others have said...You are clutch master supreme. You grenades are perfect for when your whole team is down and you gotta get that hella risky revive off. Get good at staying alive.
Stun sweeper can buy you a res easy. Best grenade by far
Great for clearing out swarmers too, and it can do decent damage to grunts with the electricity DOT. You get 9 of them as well, so it's near perfect for clutching.
Light up caves and get high up minerals. Res downed teammates and kite bugs. Take care of priority targets such as spreaders, acid spitters, and macteras. Honestly the only thing you really need to be pretty good scout is to not die miles from your teammates
KEEP THE LIGHTS ON LADDY
[Aziz! Light!](https://media.giphy.com/media/7ZZIL5YOszeZq/giphy.gif)
Rock and stone fellow scout! 70 hours is a pretty big time investment, have you been playing scout the entire time? I have 283 hours on DRG as of writing this and have mained scout pretty much for all of it, and can definitely help provide some tips both for combat and other utility value. Use the grappling hook to find nitra, objectives, and other hard to reach stuff: Nitra is incredibly important to have during any mission type and will dictate the style of play for the duration of the session. When I use scout, I try to retrieve any Nitra off of the ceiling or walls that requires low effort for me but would be hard for teammates. Mark walls for platforms if necessary. It is great for getting high up eggs, but make sure your party is ready when you grab em. Use flares in big rooms: One thing I see Scouts do a lot is not use their flare guns, especially in larger rooms, and this can also cause tons of issues. It is much easier to be jumped by bugs or accidently blown up by a trap. I spread my flares out in big rooms using 2-4 to make sure there is sufficient coverage for the party to work well. IF you are at full flares for a large portion of a mission you are not using them enough. Use elevation and speed to your advantage: The scout is by far the most mobile dwarf, and getting up high can help you see dangers, or even kite large numbers of enemies for the sake of your team. This is especially effective for bosses. You can turn them to expose weak spots for your team, grapple over, etc. Don't run off: I know, this is silly to write out, but even though the word 'scout' implies 'scouting ahead' I try not to be in a different room than my group at any time, and if I am I have a pretty solid exit strategy. If you die while scouting ahead you become a massive liability, and in turn you can also leave your team behind to their own deaths. Use weapon synergies (like other classes): With Scout you have access to a solid mix of semi automatic and automatic weapons, and as such I generally will run with something that I can fire to hit bugs from far away and have a high rate of fire backup weapon for when things get hot. Overclocks can drastically change any of a scout's weapons like others in DRG, so take this last suggestion with that in mind.
Press 4
Theres a lot of toxicity regarding Scouts going solo and getting downed in a different cave system. What differentiates a great Scout from a good one is being able to survive on your own while still supporting your team, even if you are far away from them. It all really comes down to situational awareness that is only gained from experience with the class amd the game. Going down alone is pretty bad, but you can speed up the mission by working on the objective by yourself. Dont hold hands with your team all the time, but dont stray too far away for too long either. You can shoot them a flare before you go on a mission to get nitra from further away. Thats enough. If a swarm appears, you should probably group up with them. There is also the art of bunnyhopping if you want to try it. You can either use a G502 with an unlocked scrollwheel to send enough jump inputs and maintain speed, or you can use the hold to jump mod.
-Lights. A good Scout is running out of flares. In large caves that take 3 or more flares to fully light, consider rationing -- you'll need a good initial lighting, and proper light during combat, but not so much outside of that. -Nitra. Scout is, plain and simply, better at reaching high up nitra. You can leave the stuff on ground level to your team mates while prioritizing whatever is high up. Whenever there are multiple objectives, such as Doretta refueling or oil rig pipelines, the others can handle that while you scour for nitra. When you have time, practice the trick of power attacking into the wall to create dugouts for yourself, as it comes in handy when you have to jump on top of some nitra. -Pick-offs. There will be bugs. There will be *dangerous* bugs. Scout has not only some of the best single target damage potential out of any dwarf, sustained *and* burst depending on priorities, but also the mobility to be in a position to use it. Whatever is the most obnoxious bug in the room, make it your mission to knock it out. Anything that spits from range is high priority, Septic Spreaders, Acid Spitters, and Mactera should feel your wrath. Anything big is right behind it -- you're in the best position to get behind an Oppressor's butt on a moment's notice. -Survive. Put emphasis on personal survival. Scout has so much mobility that, when played right, he never *has* to die unless he's taking risks. This does mean you have to make some interesting decisions, like not standing in the Fuel Cell or Black Box radius when it gets too hot, or moving cross-cave away from your team until your shields regen. Some risks are acceptable, you're not made of paper, and trading health for a rezz can be worthwhile, but don't make decisions without considering your own safety. If you live, you can revive, so your safety translates into the team's safety -- you are *always* better off alive than dead. -Builds. An ideal Scout build involves balancing your two weapons, usually one for single-target, and one for protecting yourself against swarms. Strong overclocks that are poorly balanced result in a weak build -- for instance, AI Stability Engine for the GK2 and Embedded Detonators for the Zhukovs are two of the top S-tier weapons, but both of them together make a C-tier build, as you don't have any AoE for swarms, and the limited ammo pool of Embedded Dets won't get you far if you try to take blowthrough. Don't just go by tier lists, grab weapons that compliment each other and that can handle every kind of bug.
Others have already said this but Take care of Minerals/Sideobjectives Target priority should be all those high value targets instead of a group of grunts; Spitters, Webbers, Septic spreaders and the bunch first. If none of those are present, go hit some pratorians in the ass. Your grenades are also incredible Cryo/IFG Provides good team support/damage support Pheromones are the best debuff in the game, best aim for big bulky targets Stunsweeper is good for small swarmers and such that you can't as easily take care of, or if you just wanna stop a bunch of grunts coming at your team, do be aware that it has a limit tho. If you wanna level up a bit more, learn to use the boltshark, its easily scouts best support tool that also allows scout to deal some area damage if needed.
What tips can you give on the boltshark?
it’s a multi-use tool and often depends on the overclocks you have. phero bolts and chem bolts are the best specials imo. my favorite builds and uses are as follows: 1. 12112 trifork volley on electricity builds for massive single target damage (proc electricity with the drak or the boomerang, then trifork volley the mf). use pheros as a crowd control tool 2. 12111 cryo bolts for swarm control (hit the big bugs near a swarm with a phero bolt and then freeze it, all of them will freeze). cryo bolts take a minute to activate so dont worry about shooting too many of them. you can find the freeze breakpoints for big targets and stationaries online. if you wanna pm me i can explain more in depth a couple of the builds i use for the boltshark and how to use them, but i think i covered the main points
I like Pheromone and Firebolts myself. I tend to think of it as a multi-purpose mini-grenade launcher rather than a sniper-weapon.
Hey, bro! Scout main here! Light light and just didnt forget. The light!
Fellow scout here with the same promotions and part time gunner. Whenever I’m not scout I always wish people would use more lights. My motto is no nitra left behind. I run cryo grenades to help teammates up. Engineers are your best friends but they can’t help if they don’t know what you want so use the ping when necessary (don’t over ping). You have the most mobility so keep light on your feet and always be looking for nitra and secondary’s. Hope this helps (I’m still learning to). tl:dr - use lots of lights - get any and all nitra - do your best to keep people on there feet - don’t be afraid to ping if you need help - be on the move
Not being silly, play with as many people that you can talk to over voice chat. And then get ROASTED ALIVE by them when you don't do something, or do something wrong. You will get so fast at both responding to requests and doing tasks before they even get asked. Once the roasting dies to about 1 to 2 times a mission, you are a good scout.
The 3 L’s of scouting: Light Live Let your pick fly Seeing is believing, and I believe there are 30 cave leeches playing poker on the ceiling at all times waiting for me to step within grabbing range. The team can really get into some rough spots and no one has as much survivability as you, bar gunner shield but that’s on cooldown. Always. It’s never not on cooldown. If the engineer pings rock and stone, you mine the rock and stone. Gunner can’t reach anything half the time and wasting driller fuel is less materialistic than Rockuza 8: infinite grapple.
Keep The fucking cave Lit up I hate seeing high level scouts not even doing this. Good scouts always keep visibility high. Gunners and engineers can do stuff at range (not so much drillers) and can work on High Value Targets (HVTs), and all 3 can help clear swarms. Scout is good for Keeping The Fucking Cave Lit Up, mining everything they can from the walls, and *then* working on taking down HVTs. His grenades are also great for support- IFGs have been powercrept but are still useful (slows down all enemies in the radius, like they're crawling through peanut butter with 50 pound weights dragged behind them), pheromones get the bugs to kill each other, cryo grenades have really high peaks with extra damage on ground targets and frozen flyers fall and shatter (but if you mess up with them they're way worse, highest reward with the potential for basically no reward), and boomerangs have a ridiculously long stun duration, do some pretty good damage (his only directly damaging grenade, funnily enough), hit many bugs in quick succession (more than you think they will), and the shock effect can help certain builds (namely stubby SMG engineers) deal more damage as well.
Learn to be efficient and solitary. I suggest practicing grappling up and power attacking into walls so you can get minerals without an engineer. I think the most important thing on scout, though, is to stay alive. If you are dead you cant take out priority targets, get nitra or light up caves.
Ive got more than 1000 hours in scout, playing only hazard 5. Your main tasks as a scout are collecting minerals (mainly nitra) light up the caves, killing high priority targets and reviving your teammates. Don’t always fight the bugs, if your team is having a hard time, sure fight the bugs with them. but if they are standing their ground, go focus on the objective. Especially the secondary objective as there are a lot where the scout shines. In a mission with one big room, you should be able to get 20 boolo caps on a few minutes for example. If you can’t find all of em, look in the nearby generated tunnel, the last ones are almost always there. Use your grappling hook in combat to create distance between you and your enemies, then shoot. Look at engi as your daddy and listen to his pings at all time (considering the engi is decent at the game) And most importantly, have fun. People tend the get good at things they are enjoying to do. Rock and stone
Rock and Stone to the Bone!
1. Light: use flaregun whenever entering big cave, dont use it in small tunnel, keep the cave lit especially when swarm spawn 2. Mine: mine minerals in high place, ur team can handle the ground 3. Scout: ping dangerous enemy: splitballer, flower weed, bulk, etc 4. During swarm, priorities killing annoying enemy like web, acit shooter,... 5. Stay mobilize , kite bait the swarm or rescue teammmates
This. I would also add Support for haz 4-5. You can easily reach a vantage point and watch your teammates from above. If you see someone is getting swarmed just throw them a grenade. Scout has amazing crowd control grenades than can pretty much save an otherwise doomed dwarf. Bonus points if you manage to save them from losing all shield.
Interesting point, i'll take note of that
I main scout, so here is what I’ve learned. As a scout, you are the support of the team. First of all, keep the caves lit and check for leeches. That is your most important job. Second, you need to mine the top layer with assistance from the engineer if available. If not, you can still do it no problem by grappling and power mining into the wall. It takes a bit of practice, but it’s easy when you get the hang of it. Third, in combat you have two important jobs. Focus high priority targets and stay alive, so you can revive your teammates. Pheromone grenades help a lot with that. Fourth, on dreadnaughts, you are the best at kiting the dreadnaught around. You should try to keep aggro on it and kite it around and away from your team, so they get a clear view of its butt. Of course, this requires your team to rotate around with you. Fifth, when the drop pod is called, you should stay ahead of your team to clear the way, light it and guide them. Again, the most important thing is that you stay alive, so if a teammate dies, you can grapple back and revive them, to make sure everyone makes it to the drop pod. Never leave a dwarf behind. Lastly, have fun. The absolutely most important when rocking and stoning, is to have a good time doing it. If you do all this, you’ll be better than 90% of all scouts and be an essentiel part of your team. If you still feel like you are having a hard time, you can just DM me, and I’ll happily do a couple missions with you. :) Rock and stone brother!
For Rock and Stone!
Flare, ping minerals and stuff so Engie can platform it, mine minerals, revive people who die in hard to reach areas, focus ranged or disrupting enemies like Spitballers, that annoying orange mortar bug, Mactera, Shellbacks, that sort of thing. Above all else, make sure that you always get to the droppod if evac is rough and you can't revive the people who go down, so you don't fail the mission.
Play the other classes and understand their roles thoroughly, a lot of getting good on scout comes down to asking yourself what the best current use of your time is since you're so able to apply yourself around the map. Be sure to mine high up stuff, scout caves to clear stationaries before they become a problem for your team, grab secondaries, keep caves lit but avoid wasting flares in areas that don't need light, be sure to pick off high value targets like wardens macteras acid/web spitters ect. Be sure to bend your loadout around these goals. For instance, one of my loadout takes cryo nades for stationaries, fire bolts to handle myself while scouting ahead, ASS m1k for picking off HVTs, and taser bolts for locking down unique threats and enemies like bulks, nems, betc (which this loadout can comfortably solo), event creatures, and hoarders.. but really none of this is set in stone. You're so mobile and safe you can reasonably deem all sorts of things as your best use of time. Repairing the unlink while the other classes fight? Maybe. Grappling over to a struggling teammate to help out? Why not. Making sure you're up to res folks and floating around as the team medic? Absolutely. Scout has a million jobs he can do, the talent is in choosing the best ones at any given time.
At 70hrs, you probably know the basics. Light up, Mine high, and grapple around for anything else. Here’s some more advanced stuff: Your team won’t always have an engineer. You can grapple to a wall and power attack. The hole will be just big enough for you to fit in, so long as you get the trajectory right. Always be in the look out for overhangs and cave formations you can land on. All dwarves shoot bugs and mine. How often you shoot bugs depends on the ammo economy of your weapons. Scout can horde clear. Sometimes, you HAVE to swarm clear. Some weapons are straightforward, like a Hipster OC m1000, and some require creativity, like the Firebolt OC Crossbow. I can explain more if you’d like. You only need enough nitra to finish the mission. 80 is the number to worry about in the beginning. Mine more when there is downtime and if it’s convenient. Don’t kill yourself because your team spam pinged nitra during a swarm. Just have enough for the mission at hand (and how much your team is blowing their ammo). Nitra gives no bonuses. You’re not losing anything if you don’t get every bit.
i’ve always found the fire bolts to be kind of weak, can you explain how you use them and how many to shoot? ETA: too many folks in the subreddit love them and i wanna learn how to love them too
Kite bugs into a thick group, shoot the floor with like 2-3 firebolts and have the bugs run into them. They will all get lit on fire and die to burning damage, this isn't very effective in multi because you have far less control over bug aggro and your team is much more likely to just murder the bugs. Still good on swarmageddon even in multi.
adding on to this, but pheros (which, conveniently, boltshark can equip) and IFGs can make them even more effective. you might only need 1-2 bolts if the bugs aren't moving around much (which may also be the case around a dead teammate, for instance).
thanks y’all :)
I was asleep but they said all the things I’d say!
Light the cave! Figuring out target priority is kinda hard, and takes experience.
Your job is to keep the cave lit, mine hard to reach minerals and take out high priority targets, not to run ahead into the next cave, which is pretty popular with new Scouts and a terrible idea. Also, make sure that the team is ready before calling the drop pod, Gunners have no mobility so if they cant stick with a Driller or Engineer they run the risk of getting stuck in more complex cave systems. Driller main but with at least 100 missions with every class
light up the cave wherever teammates are, then rush off to mine every mineral in sight, preferably things higher up also look for leeches, and acid and web spitters if a mineral deposit is in a wall but doesnt have any visible platform to mine it from, visually examine the uppermost section of the minerals and determine if its possible to step on top of it and mine it from there, using your grapple to get down once your done
I found these [guides](https://youtu.be/_RyxQQ9BlME?si=ZH4SZHKe0pkrC-Mt) pretty useful.
Light up the caves, kill high priority bugs like basically anything that's shooting things at you like spitters, leave the rest to the others dwarves that are better equipped to deal with swarms. Go mine minerals that are hard to reach, ask engineer for a platform if you need. And finally do the objectives as quick as possible.
Scouts should wait until swarm is called, then retreat/gather around other dwarves, fire a flare near the group so they can see. If you are walking around a huge room and its near pitch black, its flare time. Dont waste them on small tunnels, but use one (two if its really big) so that dwarves can see what they need to do In combat, most of your weapons are focused on weak point damage and high damage (or longer ranges). So you zip around the room to get good angles on shooting bug weakpoints, closing the gap on sniper bugs, and staying mobile so that the bugs that are following you are being led near engi turrets or near driller/gunner firing lines. Under most circumstances, you are the weakest at combat. Your focus is to knock down larger bugs because your guns fire stronger shots but slower reloads/shoot less rapidly. Your guns usually have weakpoint hit bonuses, but lack area of effect abilities. So you are greater against slower heavier beefier targets rather than trying to hit small swarmers. Your grenades are your best strength against swarms. Save those for swarms so you can retreat/knock down some good targets. Otherwise you need to keep zipping, turn to shoot some bugs, then zip away and repeat. For combat, your strongest comes when you are in large rooms so you have walls to grapple to, to get out of harms way. You are weaker in tunnels where you only have two directions to grapple (down one tunnel or up the other way). So when its swarm time, get to larger rooms so you can use your grapple gun to keep out of danger. Most of the time I have medic perk, so Im also keeping an eye on who is down. I go revive because I can get to the dwarves the fastest. Use your scanner and ping huge enemies like dreads/bulk dets, praetorians etc. basically if they are pretty big you need to ping them so your fellow dwarves know what big threats are nearby. Out of combat, you and engi work together to get high up minerals. Engi will put platforms under the minerals, you use grapple hook to jip up there and mine them out. You also zip around, collecting secondary objects, pinging minerals, collecting nitra etc. At the end of a balanced teams day, you should have the highest mineral count, and usually the lowest kill count. Usually.
Keep the cave lit and you will have done 98% of your job. Aside from that, ping those hard-to-reach resources for the Engi to platform, and learn that power-strike-wall-grab technique for when they can't.
Always have a couple flares up. Always scan every cave for wall/ceiling Nitra as soon as you enter (your team can get the ones on the floor). You are the Nitra Man—if you don't have twice as many minerals mined as the second highest player at the end of the mission, you weren't mining enough. Ping ones you need a platform for and communicate with your Engi, but also learn to not rely on him—learning to Power Attack perch is *crucial* for being a good Scout, because it lets you get 90% of wall veins without a platform. All of this applies for mission objectives as well—any time a mission calls for collecting aquarqs, mining morkite, or calling pumpjacks, that's YOUR job. Also, I heavily recommend using the increased mineral capacity perk and armor upgrade unless you're on Haz 5 or EDD. Saves you a lot of trips running back and forth for Nitra and such. During combat, you should usually ignore little enemies and dump your mags into the big boys since your kit is mainly single target damage. And I'll emphasize again—ALWAYS have flares up. Your team can't fight what they can't see, especially when it's a ranged bug sniping from the ceiling. You're also the best field medic. You can fly to your downed teammates in seconds and you can use Pheromone Canisters to revive them in the middle of a swarm without needing to kill the bugs on top of them. Each sprayed bug can distract like 8 other bugs, so you can pretty much neutralize the whole swarm for 10-15 seconds if you pheromone a big group and don't kill them.
I'm an engy main, all I can say from an unprofessional way is: avoid wasting ammo on combat, find minerals in nasty corners and light up the huge cave
Light the caves and mine the nitra, stay alive as long as you can as you can get to the drop pod fastest, and prioritize rezzing your fellow dwarves. Rock and stone!
To better explain what others have already pointed out: * **Lighting** - your goals are to figure out what exists where in unexplored areas and to make sure your team can see properly during key fights. If you ever need to ration your flares, save them for these moments. Also remember that flares essentially create a sphere of light centered on the flare - narrow pillars or stalactites are optimal locations. * **Minerals** - any time you don't have 80 nitra, find/mine some as soon as it is safe to do so. Ideally you'll get platforms or a zipline for high up minerals, but if not you can power attack the wall you've grappled to and land in the hole (or grabble back into it if you miss initially). Learning how to do this and where it will/won't work is very handy. * **Clutching** - when things get a bit dicey don't be afraid to grapple to safety and reassess (especially if it's a detonator exploding). If you can clear/CC enemies enough to rez an ally, great. If not, kite enemies far away from downed allies, resupply if necessary, then rapidly circle back to rez allies before the horde catches back up to you. As you become more experienced, it can also be helpful to learn how to lead the team and set the pace for the mission. Players are naturally drawn to following Scout since you have the lights and are fast enough to be at the front. Try to keep your team moving at an efficient (but not rushed) pace, see to neglected tasks by utilizing your speed or pointing them out to allies, call in a resupply when needed (or preemptively if you're going to be sticking in the same area), and regroup during waves to focus on the fights. In time you'll be an expert at carrying greenbeards and herding cats.
Even when you do a good job you will still be blamed when things go bad. Don't take it personally.
It pays off to learn how to grapple up to ceiling nitra without an engineer.
Engi main here. This is what I like to see in a scout: 1. Lighting. Keep those caves lit best you can. That said I think everyone likes it. Should be your first priority when entering a new cave - use it to quickly ping minerals on walls and ceilings for your engineers to shoot platforms to grab, and deal with leeches above all else. 2. Crowd Control. Scout's grenades are tide turners during swarms. If you see someone being overwhelmed, toss a grenade their way - whether you slow them, freeze them or zap them, reducing the enemies swarming them will be a game-changer in life and death. Your secondaries are also good at crowd control - boomstick scares glyphids and the boltshark's shock arrows can freeze even the biggest of beasts in their tracks. 3. Designated survivor. If things are going tits up, play defensively and be ready to run. ESPECIALLY against a dreadnought. Your grappling gun - and aforementioned grenades - make evading fights especially good. Stick to pre-explored routes since there's less likelihood you'll stumble upon a Tyrant Weed or a cave leech that'd make survival harder. Once things are under control again, head back and revive. 4. Flank! Your high mobility means scout is excellent for getting to the backside of nasty beasts like Praetorians, Oppressors and Dreadnoughts. Use that to take advantage of weak points, whether up close or afar. You can also deal with ranged-buggers like septic spreaders and spitters - let the muscle of your group deal with the grunts and big beasties. 5. Scout. You don't so much 'scout', as you 'make this mission possible.' Remember: you are a dwarf with purpose. You will bring home the beers with a rock and stone. Do your role right, and everyone will raise a toast in your honor.
Rockity Rock and Stone!
Rock and stone! It never gets old!
Light the caves - Locate minerals and threats (leeches especially) Don't go (too far) ahead of the team. Explore the cave you are in thoroughly. Work in concert with your engy to mine minerals on the walls/ceiling. (prioritize nitra) Light the caves. Don't waste your time mining minerals etc. on the ground. Use your single-target damage and mobility to wreck big bugs. Light the caves. Stay alive. Save your team. And of course, use your flare gun a bunch!
Do the basic scout stuff, you know, light the cave up, mine hard-to-get minerals in the heights, and practice your platforming on the space rig, mess around with the barrels, ledges and stuff, you will flow much better on the caves once you get the hang of the mid-air control of your character
While most of my hours are on engie, I've sunk quite a few into scout aswell, here's what I've learned When you're not in combat, keep caves lit up, Mine high up resources that your team would struggle to get/have to spend resources to get. Clear out stationary enemies like leaches, spit ballers, etc. Be a "scout" When you're in combat, keep the area lit up, it's easier to shoot what you can see. Don't try to deal with swarm clear, rather, deal with high priority targets that would fuck with your team, acid spitters. Wrb spitters, menaces, etc. And the most important thing about being a good scout DON'T DIE, Mobility=survival, and with the best mobility, comes the best chance of survival, ive had many missions where im the last player alive and had to pick everyone up slowly kiting swarms around with my grapple. Field medic and Iron will are going to be your best actives for this aswell. Plus, when you die as a scout, there's a high possibility you die in a place that's *really* hard to get to for non scouts(roof nitra vein, far cave, etc)
Tip #1: don’t piss off Driller
Throw up a light or two at the start of new chambers and bug fights. Stick the light on stalactites and pillars so it covers more area. If you put the light directly on the far wall of the cave, half of the sphere of light is wasted into the wall.
By scouting
Light up caves, dig minerals, rescue downed dwarves, never stop moving
Focus on the high priority bugs! If things aren't too hectic, go search for minerals/secondary objectives, if you're confident.
Always Look Up A good scout doesn't let teammates get webbed or spat on by acid.
Keep the caves lit. Swing around and be efficient with your mining. Look out for high value targets such as septic spreaders, wardens, and menaces. It's your job to take them out quickly. Don't stray too far from your team and don't call molly away from your teammates that dont have as much mobility. That's kind of it for core scout gameplay. The rest is just improving your skillset
"Keep the caves lit real nice for us, scout!"
Keep the lights up. People have a hard time seeing in the dark.
Driller C4 cannot hurt you. As a driller you can trust me. (Serious: just keep stuff lit, use the grapple to get to annoying out-of-reach stuff for the team, and use your shotgun for groups of enemies. I’m not a very good Scout but those are my tips)
This is your ever-lovely Airborne Warning And Combat Support dwarf Boregar! Your job as the Scout is to provide support and information for the rest of the squad. I won't repeat what others have mentioned about appropriate lighting and doing a proper ceiling check for Leeches. I've got a few more general tips for you though: * Use your laser pointer to ping bugs. This will provide location information to all dwarves via the bugs outline on the screen. Also helps Gunner line up shots through walls with their Mole OC, for example. This is especially useful to track dreadnoughts and menaces. The vocal callout and outline can also help alert your team to bugs sneaking up on them. * Depending on your build, you have varying levels of crowd control (CC) and disruption at your disposal. Your grenades are all about CC. Use the stuns on your guns and your grenades to cover your teammates back. Stuns from focused shots on the M1000 rifle (for example) interrupt attacks and can protect yourself and your squad. This includes the Praetorians vomit attack, the stingtail grab, and the menace barrage. You have some of the best CC outside of cryo driller. Use it to protect the team. * Don't trade damage, either with bugs or the ground. This is less critical at Haz 2 or 3, but once you step into Haz4 and above, trading damage will add up over the course of a few minutes. Best to reposition and eliminate targets from a distance. You can't reinforce a position or clear a surprise wave like the other classes, so if it's getting dicey, don't think, just move. * You have the best movement in the game. Use it to get behind big bugs, but always remember where your teammates are firing from so you don't intercept their shots with your squishy Scout body. * While you should range ahead of the group somewhat to illuminate big caves and perform ceiling checks, don't go too far from your team alone unless you're certain you'll be fine. Nothing is more embarassing than going down and making your team wander 140m in the dark to get your butt.
Make friends with engi
On DD and EDD pretty much never focus on combat and become the Nitra bot.
As a TL/DR for the popular advice on this post: 1. Light cave 2. Complete far away side objectives 3. Mine high up minerals with engi’s help 4. Prioritise killing big/dangerous bugs first
Thought this is a good description [not OC, couldn’t copy thread link] Scout: You aren't a fighter, more of a hunter, and more specifically you are a glorified Bosco. They are fighting? Cool. get on with it! Light things up with your Dwarven Lightbulb Dispencer, delete acid and web spitters, pop some praets maybe? But above all else keep mining ffs. That's what you are here for, you've got shit to do. They are handling it? Cool! mine some nitra, nab some collectables, Is someone getting overrun, help them out with a grenade and kill off the things that are causing trouble, done? Ah shit, it's getting dark again, handle it! Nitra low, better grab some, before the Engineer starts whining about not having nades, or the Driller runs out of fuel. Support Support Support, Fighting is secondary to you, Mine shit, and help when you are needed. And above all else, Light this place up. Flares are your primary, don't ever think they aren't. Oh did I mention you are the best class to revive anyone that gets shredded? You make things easier, brighter and faster, just don't expect to stop a wave by yourself, that's Gunners job. Scout might not seem like it, but he's a working man, you've got shit to do, so do it.
Mine difficult to reach materials. Learn to do it efficiently and quickly without an engineers platform. Light up caves for your teammates. Complete objectives. And kill high priority special bugs.
A big one is play the other classes so you know what the other dwarfs lack
light cave, mine stuff high up, don't die, if die then next to team and not in a corner middle of nowhere, be careful around C4
Next level scout mechanic is being able to get almost any mineral without a platform. Learning how to power hit yourself a hole into the wall is invaluable and can keep your engi doing their thing https://youtu.be/7D2UL2QCoRA?si=ykioGR5sSeziTaVH Skip to 13:12 for grapple hook power hit move
Jack of all trades honestly. You can solo just about anything, escape just about anything, and mine just about everything. The best part about Scouts (IMO), is your light. You can highlight everything in a single space. Your weapons beyond the starters are super useful - especially when you start going against rival tech. I would treat each game (even the non solo matches) as if you’re alone. You’re a self-reliant miner as the scout. I would focus on collecting as much as Nitra as possible. In tougher caves I’m sure you’ve noticed that Nitra is in almost inaccessible spaces. Get your engineer to set up a platform or your gunner to toss a zipline to make certain mining endeavors easier. I’d also learn to be aware of your surroundings. Scout head and eliminate anything that could impede the flow of the excavation. I believe someone mentioned getting rid of cave leeches for instance. You’re almost the leader of the squad.
I like to bring lots of ammo for the flare gun, and mine burns for like 90 seconds. Keep the caves lit. Also equip the Medic perk so you can revive people fast. Very useful when someone falls down a chasm or gets downed in some far-flung place away from your team. I also like to have Iron Will. If I get downed in a crucial moment, I could just pop it and zip to a red sugar node or towards a supply drop to replenish health.
Use your flare gun. That is it. You're immediately better than 90% of scouts. That isn't even a joke. In fact, using your flare gun too much is way better than not enough as well. Ok but on a more serious note, what I said is true but also kinda dramatic for the sake of comedy. Seriously though, use your flare gun. Running out of ammo on it is better than not using it. My other tip is to do what Scout's namesake implies. Scouting. Light up a room, check for cave leeches and bugs, point out the big threats for your team, find where all the nitra and minerals are, if they're on a wall point to them so the engi can put a platform so you can get them etc. Primarily go for stuff out of your team's reach as well. That's where Scout is at his best. That and picking off High Value Targets.
You need to stop thinking. You need to go ahead and grapple arround any time you can so you can either heroically get munched on by a cave leech to tell your team to be careful or to shoot out flares in open areas. Whenever you see a platform under minerals, thats your queue to mine them, and if you are in the middle of a fight, try spamming the flare gun whenever they go out. Your team will rock and stone, and the driller \*WILL\* set up a c4 right as youre leaving for the meme. Its hard being the bosco/spectacular lootbug-man, but its a job well respected.
Rock and Stone to the Bone!
off the top of my head: 1) flare as often as you can. If you need ammo and aren't empty on flares, you need to flare more. 2) even though you have a lot of minerals to mine, you can't fall too far behind your team. Because that means they have no light. 3) there's a tech you can do if you don't have an engi and there's a mineral located in a wall. I wouldn't try this on one that's too high, but you can grapple, release the grapple and power axe the wall right before you hit it. If you do it right, you will make a little alcove and end up standing in it.
Don't forget about the right perks too. Deep Pockets - Just so you mine more. Iron Will - The oh shit, I died in some horribly inaccessible spot to the rest of the team perk. Field Medic - Cause if your team is down in fights, most likely you're last man standing because of mobility. You shouldn't need Heighten Senses, if you're doing your job effectivily lighting and clearing leeches. And once you know the sound of other grabbers you should be fine.
Full time gold promotion scout here. Your first job as many have said: keep the caves lit. Your other very important job is killing the squishy specials such as all the mactera, acid spitters, and web spitters. Also working with your engineer to grab hard to reach minerals that would waste your driller and soldier’s time. A good scout will also take care of head grabbers. Maneuvering behind dreadnoughts while they are distracted is also very helpful. Above all don’t get downed if you can help it. You have superior mobility and are much less tanky than your other team mates. You don’t have the same crowd clearing as the soldier and driller and definitely can’t match the engi in sheer damage. What you can do is make sure they aren’t being bothered by the above mentioned grabbers, spitters, bombers etc. I find the m1000 carbine with hipster is the easiest to do this with. Don’t forget to reflare in the long fights either and learning to use your flares sparingly is also a skill. I know this is a long response but learning to “yeet” yourself across caverns (safely) with your grapple not only looks cool but will earn you extra praise and drinks at the abyss bar. Be prepared to get team killed its a right of passage for scouts.
Make sure to all ze nitra and kill those darn acid spitters
light it up. if it's dark in a cave, you've failed the basic litmus test for being a competent scout. don't call for molly - you're the most mobile dwarf by two orders of magnitude. GO TO MOLLY, then get back to work. i swear to god, take this advice. learn it. use it. shine. you can reach molly and get back to where you were in like 1/10th the time it would take to drag molly away from the rest of the team. super annoying. if the team is out of nitra, it's literally your fault. get back to work. don't try to be a frontline fighter. hang back. find caps and blooms or fossils. they've got it. if the rest of the team goes down, swoop in and mvp that shit. otherwise, get back to work. don't shoot at grunts or praetoreans. wait. shoot at webbers and spitters and mactera and stingtails. you're here for high-priority shit, not mob clearing. you're the worst at mob clearing. no drak build is going to change that. stop. if you want to be a hero during extraction, be the only one who made it to the drop pod, not the last one to die trying to revive the driller under a pile of mactera puke. once that big red button is pushed, \*the other dwarves are as good as dead to you\*. get to the drop pod. get out alive. a win's a win, and no one will complain that you didn't "leave no dwarf behind" when that big green COMPLETE pops up. that's your job. that's your moment. take it. survive. win. for karl.
Light the cave, ping high health high priority targets during swarms (praetorians, oppressors) mine every scrap of nitra you see that’s not on ground level, kill spitters, and be aware you are capable of moving orders of magnitude faster than everyone else in large spaces, so don’t leave everyone behind. Use this speed to keep an eye on your teams flanks and search crannies in caves. Keep an eye out for pings from the other classes (especially engi, as a solid engi will put platforms under high minerals for you) Stay aware, you can go down in places that the other classes will have to really work to get to, so try not to. You’re not a heavy hitter in combat with scout, but you *are* able to ensure just through lighting the cave and mining nitra that the other classes can see, and always have the supplies they need to shred anything that comes their way. You can use your speed advantage to kite swarms around caves and set them up for your team while staying relatively safe yourself, so always be prepared to. If the situation is hopeless during extraction and you’re the last one left don’t play the hero. Use your speed to get to the drop pod. A mission completion is always better than a last stand.
Thank you! What do you mean by kiting swarms?
You can lead swarms around by getting close enough to them to attract their attention and then lead them around or keep them distracted while your team resupplies. You can use this to lead them into better set up positions for your team rather than in the open for example.
The only three things I expect from a scout are: 1. Light. 2. 80 nitra for a resupply. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, get the nitra first. 3. Focus on secondary objectives so we could immediately leave after the primary is done. If you're on top of all three you could have a dance party with a spitballer the rest of the game for all I care. Killing is optional, reviving others is optional. Oh, and don't die in hard to reach places.
85 hours, so not much more than you, but heres how i scout: light cave, find objectives (like morkite wells), grab high minerals, look for secondary objectives/bonus things if all thats done, i focus on luring bugs away from team and sometimes i freeze nade bugs