Scout Archive
Thread: Master Scout whats the point
On my server, doesn't matter which one I play on, there are tons of scouts. Harvesting isn't really profitable at all, and the few times that it was (avian meat) the quality of the meats in demand were nerfed. Exploration... Running fast is cool and all but if youre a team/group type player like me, most the time you're just going to have to stop and wait for everyone else to catch up to you. Mask Scent is also useless if youre a grouper because whatever creatures you pass, your partner is going to get aggro'd by. Soloing is a possibility with this profession and I can see how some of the skills encourage it, but none are really that helpful in taking down creatures on your own. The real soloist is a medic + combat skills. Tents are sucky except for summoning out pets and wasting your time and providing eye candy. Scout sucks at this point and they'll suck more when player mounts/vehicles come out. Imagine, we'll have our +50 terrain negotiation and be running normal speed down a hill feeling good about ourselves and then suddenly someone in a landspeeder will zip past us even thought hes a brawler and has 0 terrain negotiation. Please make scouts useful or tell me some usess this profession has that I just seem to be missing.
Doctor,
What a wonderfully optimistic post. A joy to read.
"On my server, doesn't matter which one I play on, there are tons of scouts. Harvesting isn't really profitable at all, and the few times that it was (avian meat) the quality of the meats in demand were nerfed."
First of all, the fact that scouting is popular is a testament to the fact that you don't know what you are talking about. 
If Scouting was indeed useless, no one would have the skill.And youare obviously not selling your hide and bone - I've made about 100k in the lastweekselling hide/bone/meat. It sells within an hour on the bazaar, depending on the quality.
Furtherthe quality of the meat is never "nerfed". It simply shifts, like every otherresource on the planet. So you just needto figure out what creatures are giving the best avian meat after the shift. Its no different than being an artisan.
"Exploration... Running fast is cool and all but if youre a team/group type player like me, most the time you're just going to have to stop and wait for everyone else to catch up to you."
And for those times when your in a group and need to run away because some fool decided to take a potshot at a Fambaa, it's kinda useful. And when you are the group leader, and scouting ahead, it's helpful as well. The burst run modifier is also useful.
"Mask Scent is also useless if youre a grouper because whatever creatures you pass, your partner is going to get aggro'd by."
Not if he's careful, and not if you are using it to be the guide. The goal of maskscent is to make YOU more survivable. If you want to make him more survivable, become a Ranger.
"Soloing is a possibility with this profession and I can see how some of the skills encourage it, but none are really that helpful in taking down creatures on your own."
Depends on what you mean by "on your own". Of course, Scouting isn't a combat profession. So you'll need to be proficient with your weapons to be able to take down anything. But Scouting coupled with a combat profession is formidable. You know how to get around creatures, how to get close to them, and what they'll do to you if you aren't careful. You know what kind of meat and hide they give. You know how tough they are to kill. You don't know these things if you aren't a Scout. You just know their HAM costs. Most Scouts solo because they enjoy it, not because they have to. And I can take down a lot of creatures single handedly. I was taking down Snorbals on my own the other day.
"The real soloist is a medic + combat skills."
And theres no reason why these can't be coupled with Scouting. No one says "just be a scout".
Tents are sucky except for summoning out pets and wasting your time and providing eye candy.
Right. That whole healing thing is just crap.
"Scout sucks at this point and they'll suck more when player mounts/vehicles come out."
Scouting isn't an elite profession. It's not designed to make you "uber". It's a starting platform for most of the better advanced professions - Ranger, Bounty Hunter, etc. Scouting is actually one of the most balanced professions in the game right now. And a player mount isn't going to harvest a critter for you, or heal your wounds in the field. Scouts most definitely do not "suck". Unless all you do is PvP.
"Imagine, we'll have our +50 terrain negotiation and be running normal speed down a hill feeling good about ourselves and then suddenly someone in a landspeeder will zip past us even thought hes a brawler and has 0 terrain negotiation. Please make scouts useful or tell me some usess this profession has that I just seem to be missing."
How about reading the 10,000 posts on this board? Or my guides? Or the manual for that matter?
Scouting is a great profession. We're great hunters, we're survivable in the wild. We have the greatest means of being a solo player - when coupled with a combat profession and/or medic and entertainer. And since PvE is one of the major parts of the game, we're critical. Again, if we sucked so much, why does everyone have Scout skills?
Doc, you're new - so I'll give you a pass. But we like people in the Scout forums who try and see the silver lining. If you've got some ideas about what can be done to make Scouting better, go ahead and post 'em. Otherwise, go complain on the CH boards. You'll be welcome there.
B
Doctor,
These boards tend to be a very constructive place. Complaining and trolling gets you nowhere. If you have a problem or a question, post it in a informed manner, and we will talk about how to get it resolved.
We have a very informed and dedicated correspondent here, so the boards tend to be a little bit more civilized, compared to other boards. Same with the Ranger boards, as they are all scouts too. Delta and Nrass both do a great job, as evidenced by the lengthiy reply that Delta gave to you.
Sorry if this sounds like a flame, it's really not. Just trying to get a point across.
but Master Scout whoa thats lots of things you get to be a CH a Ranger a Hunter. Are you even a scout? Scouts are fun they explore alot hunt more things and and you even make traps. I dont think your a scout. Scouts are awesome 
. But ok thats your opinion 
Ok, sorry my post game off so hostile and negative sounding. I was in a frustrated mood and am feeling better now and have read over your responses. I'll just address a few things mentioned in the first response. Although I cannot guarantee you, the number of people playing scout most likely do not play it for the scout skills, but for the elite professions that it opens upfor them. This would not mean, as you replied, "First of all, the fact that scouting is popular is a testament to the fact that you don't know what you are talking about." It would be interesting to take a poll on on this subject and see if most players really enjoy scout or simply want to grind through it as quickly as possible to get to [what they/some consider] the fun professions. Your information on harvesting was helpful to me. Despite being a master scout myself, I've never used harvesting to turn a profit. If you argue that it is a decent way to do so, then I'm not really in a position to disagree. I've tried it just a few times and didn't like it compared to the other ways I've found of making credits. Thanks also for the info about the shifting of quality, I did not know that. I'm not someone who has time to stroll over all the boards and weed them for the info I need, so I went foward with my own post with the questions I had, sorry if any of it is a repeat for any of you. References to other posts are appreciated however. The issue I brought up about exploration hasn't really been addressed yet. It is mainly my concern for our profession once the mounts and vehicles come in. I dont know about you guys, but I would feel slightly jipped if my kinda-cool-sort-of normal running down hills was rendered useless due to new faster vehicles. I haven't read any information if scouts are going to be good "racers" or get mods that make them have better handling, so that was just a topic I was wondering about. BTW - (you mentioned something about maskscent, I havent read the other posts, but I use this skill and I seem to get aggro'd more often than my non-scout friend, kind of odd, maybe buggish? - you dont need to respond to this, as I will check other posts later, I havent had the chance to glance through all of them) Next subject: you mentioned "Scouting coupled with a combat profession is formidable." Formidable? I don't see how scouting makes you any tougher. And as for the getting stats on creatures, there are mainly websites with databases with all of this information mapped out for us already, simply click on a creatures name. Plus -cant any player use the consider command? Tents issue: healing? haha. It's called get novice medic and stim b's and heal yourself for 450 a shot. Lets see... 10 seconds verse 10 minutes? I'll go with the stim b's. You mentioned that scouts are one of the most balanced professions in the game, and I guess by SOE standards you are right, because they define balanced as the absence of power (ALL power). Yes, my opinion is biased because I am a PvP gamer. I admit it, but thats not something that I should be criticised for, or penalized. I'll just make a comparison to some of the other starting professions. Lets start with Marksman, they get POWERFUL skills - good skills for taking down a creature, in my opinion, this makes them more of a HUNTER than a scout does. A scout in this game should be called something more like a "bird-watcher". Now for the camping tree.... its ok, could be better. Right now its kind of foolish to depend on camps for health and action healing (just grab novice medic), I can see how you might like it for mind. I really don't know though, I'm a master scout/0/3/4/4 bounty hunter and since mastering scout I have used a camp ONE time at the request of my friend. Trapping...seems ridiculous. Now ill respond to your last few comments...
"How about reading the 10,000 posts on this board? Or my guides? Or the manual for that matter?"
- How about no? I don't have the time and generally disagree with other peoples opinions. And I've seen the manual... its a real master-piece. "Trapping 4 makes U good!" - how about a description of the damage modifiers of the traps, or an equation for the slow speed, or a better explanation of what they actually do. I'd personally like to see something like "100-300 damage to random pool, lowers targest resistances by 5%" or something, instead of purely subjective/broad descriptions.
Scouting is a great profession. We're great hunters, we're survivable in the wild. We have the greatest means of being a solo player - when coupled with a combat profession and/or medic and entertainer. And since PvE is one of the major parts of the game, we're critical. Again, if we sucked so much, why does everyone have Scout skills?
- Why is scout helpful at all in being a solo player? Everyone can use consider... And if you want to be awesome at PvE I can give you some advice, go commando.
Doc, you're new - so I'll give you a pass. But we like people in the Scout forums who try and see the silver lining. If you've got some ideas about what can be done to make Scouting better, go ahead and post 'em. Otherwise, go complain on the CH boards. You'll be welcome there.
-That's a personal attack. Not appreciated. You're right, I'm a pessimist, but then again, I dont force you to read my posts. Plus, the world needs people both like you and me. You can see the good things (which doesnt suprise me because youre obviously biased towards the profession) and I can see the things which most players really don't have a use for. Then again, I might be wrong... which is why it would be interesting to have a poll, if you know of one, please direct me there.
My idea to make Scouting better:
-cool scouting camoflauge clothes, scout only
-make fire watchable in tents, to heal mind faster
-when player vehicles come out, let scouts be sweet at speeders
-uhh.. traps... i dont see how theyre traps at all, more like grenades... how about a real trap?
-have scouts swim faster and have burst swim
I got tired in the middle of this post and went back into my semi-pissed off mode, but hopefully I have something intelligent in there and don't attack anyone to much. Don't get me wrong tho,I love the SWG community and the people who provide helpful responses. I am not trying to troll, or whatever the term is, this post was to seek knowledge for myself which I think is something reasonable to do. True, I could have read other forums, but this is the best way to get a a quick response to what I'm looking for. I haven't bothered to reread this, I haven't edited it, if I notice something in it tomorrow that I regret saying it in, I'll apologize tomorrow accordingly.
DoctorRoswell if you are primarily do PvPer then you will properly find that you will do much better against a CH.
On camps, their true power lies in their ability to allow medics to heal wounds, and in allowing entertainers to heal mind wounds. Sure, a medic with a droid with some medic centres could do with out a camp but that droid will be an obvious target in PvP.
Try asking a doctor or combat medic if they need any special mead types. You will properly find that they need resources from specific planets and of specific types, and that they are willing to pay well for it.
As for the "cool scouting camoflauge clothes", ones we BE get fixed we shut be able to make tissue that will enhance skills (when used in clothing). We (well thoughts more skilled then me) can currently make "Scent Camouflage" and "Visual Camouflage" tissue, it just do not work .
See Sig for Skills, I have Master scout currently and am about to solo Fammbas using Alot of traps and alot of running and alot of trips to the cantiena, also it kinda starts to cost a arm and leg to maintaine my armor.
I used a sliced Laser rifle, and a mountain krevol for my tank.
Doc,
Better second post.
"Although I cannot guarantee you, the number of people playing scout most likely do not play it for the scout skills, but for the elite professions that it opens upfor them."
That was one of my points. Scouting is a starting profession, after all.
It would be interesting to take a poll on on this subject and see if most players really enjoy scout or simply want to grind through it as quickly as possible to get to [what they/some consider] the fun professions.
Those are the kind of people we don't like here.
Thanks also for the info about the shifting of quality, I did not know that. I'm not someone who has time to stroll over all the boards and weed them for the info I need, so I went foward with my own post with the questions I had, sorry if any of it is a repeat for any of you.
Doc, I can pretty much guarantee that I'm busier than you. But for your convenience, there is a lot of information that can answer any questions you have about the profession stickied to the top of this forum. If you've got the time to come and post a whiny thread, then I think you've got the time to read a bit first. It's not that hard, is it?
The issue I brought up about exploration hasn't really been addressed yet. It is mainly my concern for our profession once the mounts and vehicles come in. I dont know about you guys, but I would feel slightly jipped if my kinda-cool-sort-of normal running down hills was rendered useless due to new faster vehicles. I haven't read any information if scouts are going to be good "racers" or get mods that make them have better handling, so that was just a topic I was wondering about.
We'll cross this bridge when we come to it. We know nothing about mounts and vehicles yet, so whining about them before they are implemented is dumb.
BTW - (you mentioned something about maskscent, I havent read the other posts, but I use this skill and I seem to get aggro'd more often than my non-scout friend, kind of odd, maybe buggish?
Yes. We're working on it.
"Scouting coupled with a combat profession is formidable." Formidable? I don't see how scouting makes you any tougher.
You get to-hit modifiers on creatures that make you more likely to hit them. This coupled with your knowledge of what they'll do to you if you get in their way makes you formidable.
And as for the getting stats on creatures, there are mainly websites with databases with all of this information mapped out for us already, simply click on a creatures name.
You've got time to sift through an off-site bestiary and not enough to read our posts?
Tents issue: healing? haha. It's called get novice medic and stim b's and heal yourself for 450 a shot.
That's great. But I don't have the skill points for this. So camps are my best way of doing it, other than grabbing my wife, who's a Doctor. Camps are the only way for non-medics to heal in the field. So they are useful.
You mentioned that scouts are one of the most balanced professions in the game, and I guess by SOE standards you are right, because they define balanced as the absence of power (ALL power).
Ahhh, a dev hater. That makes more sense now. You going to be a CH too?
Yes, my opinion is biased because I am a PvP gamer.I admit it, but thats not something that I should be criticised for, or penalized.
Scouting isn't designed to make you a good PvPer. It's strictly PvE. So if you are basing all of your assumptions off of how well you'll do in PvP as a Master Scout, then of course your frustrated. That would be like complaining that Chefs are underpowered for PvP - you're missing the point.
I'll just make a comparison to some of the other starting professions. Lets start with Marksman, they get POWERFUL skills - good skills for taking down a creature, in my opinion, this makes them more of a HUNTER than a scout does.
Scouting, COUPLED WITH A COMBAT PROFESSION, is key. You cannot simply be a Scout in this game. You cannot simply be anything in this game. It's the way it was designed.
A scout in this game should be called something more like a "bird-watcher".
If you really think this, then you are really missing the point.
Now for the camping tree.... its ok, could be better. Right now its kind of foolish to depend on camps for health and action healing (just grab novice medic), I can see how you might like it for mind. I really don't know though, I'm a master scout/0/3/4/4 bounty hunter and since mastering scout I have used a camp ONE time at the request of my friend. Trapping...seems ridiculous. Now ill respond to your last few comments...
To you. This is all based on your play style. I use camps all the time. I use traps all the time. They are far from useless - unless you are just grinding out XP to get to Bounty Hunter.
How about no? I don't have the time and generally disagree with other peoples opinions.
Big shock. And you had enough time to write out this post, but not to educate yourself before putting both feet in your mouth? C'mon. Some of what other people have written may be of some use to you. I've already given you a lot of info that you didn't know before. My guides and the other posts here will give you more. Don't knock it til you've tried it.
And I've seen the manual... its a real master-piece. "Trapping 4 makes U good!" - how about a description of the damage modifiers of the traps, or an equation for the slow speed, or a better explanation of what they actually do. I'd personally like to see something like "100-300 damage to random pool, lowers targest resistances by 5%" or something, instead of purely subjective/broad descriptions.
That's not the kind of stuff you get in an MMORPG manual - that's the kind of stuff that the community develops. That's because this stuff CHANGES as the devs make changes to it, and it makes the manual out of date. Then complainers like you come along and say "this thing is out of date, it sucks!" So they keep it general. If you're surfing the other sites, I'm sure you can find this info readily enough. But the one thing that the manual will do for you is give you some idea of what the "point" of being a Scout is, since you obviously are having trouble with this concept.
Why is scout helpful at all in being a solo player? Everyone can use consider... And if you want to be awesome at PvE I can give you some advice, go commando.
Funny, you wouldn't have said that two weeks ago. Commando will get balanced, just like every other profession. And Scout helps because it gives you things that make you more survivable in the wild - terrain modifiers, burst run modifiers, mask scent, forage, camps, traps, etc. You don't get those being a marksman.
That's a personal attack. Not appreciated. You're right, I'm a pessimist, but then again, I dont force you to read my posts.
I'm the correspondent. I read EVERY post here. And for someone who is trashing my favorite profession, I think I was being generous.
Plus, the world needs people both like you and me. You can see the good things (which doesnt suprise me because youre obviously biased towards the profession) and I can see the things which most players really don't have a use for.
I'm just as much of a player as you are. In fact, probably more, judging by when you signed up here. I've been here since day 1. You have different ideas about what is good, no problem. But when you have a problem, present it in a calm, rational manner, and you'll make friends here. We don't think Scouting is perfect, but its close. We value new ideas and criticism, but not when they're wrapped up in whining. Whining has no place here, and the ridicule you've gotten from not only me but the other posters is a testament to that.
Then again, I might be wrong... which is why it would be interesting to have a poll, if you know of one, please direct me there.
Look at how many 5 star posts I have, and answer your own question. Most of the players here tend to feel like I do. At least, that's how it seems to me. Then again, I might be wrong...
My idea to make Scouting better:
-cool scouting camoflauge clothes, scout only
-make fire watchable in tents, to heal mind faster
-when player vehicles come out, let scouts be sweet at speeders
-uhh.. traps... i dont see how theyre traps at all, more like grenades... how about a real trap?
-have scouts swim faster and have burst swim
These are good ideas. Some of them are already on our list. I'll add the others to it.
I got tired in the middle of this post and went back into my semi-pissed off mode, but hopefully I have something intelligent in there and don't attack anyone to much. Don't get me wrong tho,I love the SWG community and the people who provide helpful responses. I am not trying to troll, or whatever the term is, this post was to seek knowledge for myself which I think is something reasonable to do. True, I could have read other forums, but this is the best way to get a a quick response to what I'm looking for. I haven't bothered to reread this, I haven't edited it, if I notice something in it tomorrow that I regret saying it in, I'll apologize tomorrow accordingly.
Doc, just be consistent. Don't post a two page diatribe and then claim you don't have time to read our forum. And all we ask is that you are polite, and post thoughtful responses, not knee-jerk whining. We don't like that here, and we don't put up with it. This isn't SWG Discussion or the CH boards. We've got cultural norms here that make the kind of post you originally threw up here taboo.
This was a better post, but just do yourself a favor and READ what others have written. You may learn some more things you didn't know.
B
I am glad delta is out voice and not me, he is a lot more diplomatic then I am! That said being a master scout/Novice Ranger with most of the marksman tree done except Carbines IV, I can more then hold my own solo and without my scout skills I would be solely dependent on others, I use my camps all the time, I traverse terrain like a demon I really don't care about mounts yet because they are not in the game. Ya know I am not sure why I am even responding because you either have no clue what this class should be, are a troll, a trouble maker not sure. This is a supplemental beginning class not a self sufficient all around combat class.
Speaking of traps since apparently you do not know how to use our traps let me tell you a tactic that works and how traps make it so. Take a Phenacine dart throw it at the mob, wait for it to snare, then throw a glow wire trap and lower the mobs Ranged defenses, Get your trusty weapon, do aBleed shot followed by headshot 2 headshot 1 or bodyshot 2 and 1, and 8 out of 10 times I drop the critter before snare wears off. Humm did the traps help me there???? I am going to stop now because I will probably get Delta mad at me!
On Harvesting btw I made 15K last night on avian meat!
Doc,
You might want to consider that scout is just not your playstyle. Everyone has a different playstyle. You asked us, and we answered - we love being scouts. We find all these things useful and fun to play. This is our playstyle. I personally detest PvP, and therefore I have not chosen a faction. But I do not think factions are useless, just not my thing. If the scout skills do not make sense to you, then just don't play them. Who knows? Maybe in time you will find a way to use them to enhance your playstyle. Maybe it is something that will just develop.
I was very interested by part of your post - the mounts/vehicles part. You are right, maybe this will nerf us for a while, but Delta is VERY good at getting responses and actions for us from the devs. Since he is right, and we really don't know anything about it, I'll venture a guess that speeders might have some of the same terrain issues as players do. Going through difficult terrain might damage them, slow them down, etc. (Can you tell I'm a Warhammer player too?) What ever happens with it, it should be interesting! I'd love to see mounts get distracted by food, other animals of the same type, etc. Maybe a lure for mounts so you can cause trouble for mounted PvPers? That would be fun. Anyone able to do a dewback mating call?
- Paks