Post by slayernz on Jul 3, 2013 20:46:25 GMT -5
In TA, my learned opinion is that AP is key. Actually it's either AP, or extensive firepower, and there is indeed a place for both. With that in mind, I'd like to introduce you to the virtues of the Scout. Ladies and Gentlemen, I strongly believe that when used for the right mission, the Scout is one of the single best knights in your squad.
The key strengths of your Scout
1) Scouts get +1 AP bonus (so long as your first action is to move forward 1 square). This means covering ground at a much faster rate than fellow squad members. Getting into defensible positions in the shortest amount of time signifies the difference between a successful squad, and a half-smeared one.
- Yes the soldier gets a 55% chance of being able to fire again during the second phase of a turn, but to maximize on his ability, you can only really afford to move 3 AP in the first phase of the turn. What's 3 AP? Not a helluva lot compared to 6 AP for a well equipped scout!
2) You get another +1 AP with any good scout armor. This means at a dead run, your scout can move 8 squares per turn! Even if your scout is covering your rear, he can move backwards two squares AND be able to shoot 3 Xenos. NOTE, at 8 squares per turn, you can move faster than most Xeno's can. This means if you are trying to get to an Evac point, you aren't distracted with having to keep turning and firing (2AP just to turn around, then 2AP to turn back the way you were facing!!!
3) Scouts have no gear restrictions so can carry the exact same gear as standard soldiers can. You can gear up a scout with a Long Devastator and a Force Gauntlet, and be comfortable dealing death at long or close range.
Building up a Scout with the standard combo of ranged, melee, and evasive skills means they can deal damage, and not get his just as effectively as any other unit.
What areas do you focus XP on?
With Scouts, the biggest thing is their movement, so make sure you have as much as you can in Quickness (usually 4), and top up Tactics to get Tactics + Quickness = 6. Why?
(T + Q)/3 +3 = AP. Your max AP = 6 (which is the max for ALL classes), so if you invest any more into T, you're just wasting your XP.
From there, beef up your ranged skills so you can shoot worth a damn.
THEN beef up your evade skill so you can dodge enemies.
Finally, round out your Scout with some warrior skill so you can punch Xeno's out with your FISTS OF FURY. Keep Ranged and Warrior growing until you get to around 20 - 25 for each, then spend more on Evade, while slowly adding to Ranged plus Warrior. Kind of a ratio of E:R:W = 3:1:1 or so.
After a while, id really doesn't matter what you're adding your XP to because you'll become a killing machine. My scout squad has a 215% chance of critical hit with both ranged and melee, and with Evasion of 55, he just laughs in the face of the Xenos.
When would you use a Scout?
Scouts are most useful when you have multiple waypoints in a mission ("Go to A, B, and C"). When you can move fast, you can complete the level in fewer turns, and fewer turns means less encounters and therefore less risk. Remember, at a straight run, your scout can move faster than any Xeno except a Narvidian!
In the classic Moons of Nachat-ugo, using scouts over other soldiers means you can get scouts camping out right by the Xeno Spawn points within 5 turns, and have the mission wrapped up by the end of turn 8!. Even the second mission, The Gauntlet only takes 8 turns to burn through. If you ran standard soldiers through this second mission, you'd easily churn through 10+ turns.
When would you NOT use a Scout?
I would only NOT use a Scout if there is a siege mission. Actually in most cases, the Scout would do equally as well as other units, but with sieges, Neptune specialists are the unit of choice. With 55 rounds of ammo, and the ability to take and dish out damage like nobody else, the Neptune specialist is the king of the siege ... but that's a whole different thread ...
The key strengths of your Scout
1) Scouts get +1 AP bonus (so long as your first action is to move forward 1 square). This means covering ground at a much faster rate than fellow squad members. Getting into defensible positions in the shortest amount of time signifies the difference between a successful squad, and a half-smeared one.
- Yes the soldier gets a 55% chance of being able to fire again during the second phase of a turn, but to maximize on his ability, you can only really afford to move 3 AP in the first phase of the turn. What's 3 AP? Not a helluva lot compared to 6 AP for a well equipped scout!
2) You get another +1 AP with any good scout armor. This means at a dead run, your scout can move 8 squares per turn! Even if your scout is covering your rear, he can move backwards two squares AND be able to shoot 3 Xenos. NOTE, at 8 squares per turn, you can move faster than most Xeno's can. This means if you are trying to get to an Evac point, you aren't distracted with having to keep turning and firing (2AP just to turn around, then 2AP to turn back the way you were facing!!!
3) Scouts have no gear restrictions so can carry the exact same gear as standard soldiers can. You can gear up a scout with a Long Devastator and a Force Gauntlet, and be comfortable dealing death at long or close range.
Building up a Scout with the standard combo of ranged, melee, and evasive skills means they can deal damage, and not get his just as effectively as any other unit.
What areas do you focus XP on?
With Scouts, the biggest thing is their movement, so make sure you have as much as you can in Quickness (usually 4), and top up Tactics to get Tactics + Quickness = 6. Why?
(T + Q)/3 +3 = AP. Your max AP = 6 (which is the max for ALL classes), so if you invest any more into T, you're just wasting your XP.
From there, beef up your ranged skills so you can shoot worth a damn.
THEN beef up your evade skill so you can dodge enemies.
Finally, round out your Scout with some warrior skill so you can punch Xeno's out with your FISTS OF FURY. Keep Ranged and Warrior growing until you get to around 20 - 25 for each, then spend more on Evade, while slowly adding to Ranged plus Warrior. Kind of a ratio of E:R:W = 3:1:1 or so.
After a while, id really doesn't matter what you're adding your XP to because you'll become a killing machine. My scout squad has a 215% chance of critical hit with both ranged and melee, and with Evasion of 55, he just laughs in the face of the Xenos.
When would you use a Scout?
Scouts are most useful when you have multiple waypoints in a mission ("Go to A, B, and C"). When you can move fast, you can complete the level in fewer turns, and fewer turns means less encounters and therefore less risk. Remember, at a straight run, your scout can move faster than any Xeno except a Narvidian!
In the classic Moons of Nachat-ugo, using scouts over other soldiers means you can get scouts camping out right by the Xeno Spawn points within 5 turns, and have the mission wrapped up by the end of turn 8!. Even the second mission, The Gauntlet only takes 8 turns to burn through. If you ran standard soldiers through this second mission, you'd easily churn through 10+ turns.
When would you NOT use a Scout?
I would only NOT use a Scout if there is a siege mission. Actually in most cases, the Scout would do equally as well as other units, but with sieges, Neptune specialists are the unit of choice. With 55 rounds of ammo, and the ability to take and dish out damage like nobody else, the Neptune specialist is the king of the siege ... but that's a whole different thread ...
... some missions, I have 2 scouts + 1 Neptune, and pair Captain + Scout, and Scout + Neptune. The one Neptune specialist plus a Heavy Neptune or Relic Neptune is a force of nature. 
