Introduction:
This is supposed to be my Scout guide, and it's solely meant for PvP. Seeing as the game has very little endgame content for PvE (and because PvE is easy mode anyway), I believe that's sufficient. First, let me say that my build uses Wisdom, not Strength, because Scouts are inferior at fighting mostly with melee skills, almost all of which scale poorly and don't have Super Armor. However, just setting up gadgets and running
away doesn't beat good players, so I'll try to tell you what else you have to do while you are spamming gadgets and run away.
Pros:
- Alternative play style
- Fun
- Less gimped by lag (most core skills AI-controlled)
- Ultimate counter vs. melee (although bad at melee fighting)
- Hits hard (some abilities at least)
- Gear is mostly cheap (3 of 4 hunter classes need STR, therefore the WIS gear is usually cheaper. There’s also less Scouts than Rangers/Assassins/Shadows in general because Scouts are not mainstream.)
Cons:
- Hard to play vs. ranged (Ranger, Elementalist, Illusionist)
- Dies fast when escapes are on cooldown (did somebody say leftclickmaster?)
- Requires brains, strategy and planning where other classes can mostly skip the planning and just execute their combos mindlessly or cast their spells from the other end of the map (bring it, haters)
Abilities you should max (core):
-Multi-Shot + Enchant Ice + Speed Aim (that bow isn't just for show)
- Explosive Trap + Freezing Trap + Aerial Trap (your bread and butter)
- Line Turret + Spinning Turret (great control, hit hard with good timing)
- Fire Support + Precise Targeting (awesome AOE dmg+control)
- Lethargic Mist (just deadly vs. melee)
- Flame Trap (tons of damage)
- Find Weakness (hardcore debuff, although dangerous)
Other abilities you need (level 1 is enough):
- Crouch (pretty much core)
- Evasive Dash, Evasive Maneuver (same)
- Pumpkin Bomber (very important)
- Grab Throw (just in case)
- Eagle Kick, Kneeling Kick, Kneel Press, Flying Shatter Kick, Lift Kick (needs more kicks)
- Turn Slash, Buster Impact, Bursting Touch (anti rush, mostly for defense or combos)
- Charged Shot (is at level 1 anyway)
Passives (should max these too):
- Max Hp Increase, Max Mp Increase, Critical Increase (because, why not)
- Bow Mastery, Physical Mastery, Wind Talker (you run faster with a knife)
- Trap Mastery I and II (obviously)
Gear:
- Always get gear with Crit and Wisdom!
- Preferrably go for Evasion on gear too!
- Accessories with fireattack are a must
- As much movement speed as possible on boots.
- Critdmg shoulders provide you with extra awesomeness.
- HP+/Int are better than HP/MPr.
- Blade [Crit] is better than Dagger [Crit][Wis] due to more WIS.
- The unique dagger Macguive (Warehouse NPC, 25 Adventure Coins) is even better than the Royal Luid Blade.
- Hell Sets are bad in general.
- Get the common misconception that Scouts are semi-assassins and/or semi-rangers out of your head, they are casters. All you want from your gear is magical attack, crit, wisdom, evasion and fireattack. You don't deal damage with your mainhand or your bow, you deal damage with your spells, which makes you a caster.
Basic Gameplay:
Your traps and turrets do 99,99% of your damage, so your job is to make them reach their targets. Good players will manage to get away from your traps or block them, so just spamming stuff will get you nowhere. In Team Deathmatch, you are a supporter and have to control the battlefield and interrupt combos on your teammates. In Relay, the idea is kind of the same, sans the teammates. Control the battlefield, make sure your traps hit, play mindgames and bait people (or force them into tanking your traps).
Aerial Trap is an awesome passive, since it lets you cast your two low cd traps while jumping, thereby offering somewhat of an escape mechanism at the same time. You will usually use it to get to or away from your opponent, then engage on them with Eagle Kick or Flying Shatter Kick while 1 or 2 of your turrets support you from a distance.
Now, there are 3 possible outcomes:
- Your engage connects, so your traps will reach their target
- Your engage misses, so your opponent can get away, although they might have a hard time evading you, your traps and your turrets at the same time
- Your engage is countered. If your opponent tries to hurt you after this, the traps should reach him (and the turrets might do the same). If he does not, it’ll be the same as the prior outcome.
You will mostly repeat doing this, although you will have to use Multi-Shot and Speed Aim as well if you are unable to reach them. With your Enchant Ice, however, you might be able to pin them down long enough to make your traps hit them, or at least do some damage. If you practice this long enough, your enemy will have very little chance to survive. Your other level 1 abilities will support this, most notably the very awesome Pumpkin Bomber.
Advanced Gameplay:
However, here's where it gets interesting: Eventually, if your opponent is good, you will have to get them into your Fire Support, either by baiting or by dropping it on their heads when you managed to knock them down somehow. This lets you set up more traps around them while they are caught in your Fire Support (unless you used it when they had escapes up, which you should not), especially your Flame Trap. Flame Trap hurts a lot, so it's worth going into melee range and risk taking a hit or two if it just makes your opponent tank it for some time. This is where your other level 1 abilities are helpful as well: Use Buster Impact, Grab Throw, Pumpkin Bomb, Kneel Press or whatever to knock someone on the floor if you can, nothing else matters as long as your Flame Trap will reach them while they can't move.
Lethargic Mist is pretty similar to Fire Support, just that it doesn't knock people up but slows their movement and attackspeed, while also hurting them with poison damage. Melees will know better than attacking you while you're inside that lovely green mist, unless they are dumb.
The last ability I told you to max is Find Weakness: An aura that reduces 65% of Physical and Magical Defense for enemy players around you: This is a killer when used at the right time. Your abilities that deal magical (and not physical or elemental) damage are Line Turret, Spinning Turret and Fire Support“ so you'll obviously want to use it when your enemy is caught in your Fire Support and preferrably set up your turrets right next to him. Just be careful you don't get hit yourself!
Facing Ranged:
I'll have to say a few words on Crouch too, I guess. You gain 3 seconds of immunity against ranged attacks, which includes elementalist/illusionist spells and also Ranger attacks. You'll have a hard time beating these three, so you better practice using Crouch at the right time. The same applies to Wardens, and actually pretty much any other class because everyone uses one or two ranged spells, even as melee. Against ranged characters, you will use crouch and otherwise try to get in range for your abilities. Just keep going as long as you can, they can't attack while they have to run from you. The roles are basically inversed here because they have to kite you, while otherwise you are the one who has to kite melees.
More on facing Melee:
While Scout is a melee counter, good players will kite/block your traps, no matter what you do. Therefore it is mandatory to set your gadgets up right to control the battlefield, and even more so try to use your bow or even your mainhand to help your traps reach them. Also, practice to counter rushs/charges with Turn Slash, Lift Kick, Buster Impact, Bursting Touch, Multi-Shot, Speed Aim, Flying Shatter Kick, Kneel Press, Evasive Maneuver – and learn from experience which charge can be countered by what, and which charge can't be countered at all. Another good way of countering a rush is Aerial Trap > Freezing Trap > Explosive Trap > Line Turret, then follow up with Speed Aim and/or Multi-Shot. You can also try to use your Flame Trap at this point.
No matter what you do, timing is crucial. And having a trap or a turret up to save you from getting combod into oblivion is a lifesaver against melees and rangeds alike.
All credits for this guide go to Rahkdan (EU)
