Scout Archive

I'm posting this in t\eeh scout forum because, from browsing the other forums, I've found this one to be the most helpful - not as many flames and such.

Anyway, I'm a newbie (aroung 25-30 hrs of gameplay) and I'm having trouble taking out lairs solo. I'm using the usual pattern, i.e. prone, attack lair, peace, kill spawned mobs ... lather, rinse, repeat, but it's slow and tedious.

When the mobs attack, should I stand my ground and take the hits, or should I run and kite? (Is there a way to back up and still face the target? I always wind up firing over my shoulder.)

Also, I'm only in the first boxes in both the scout and marksman trees, so I need practical advice I can use now. Please don't tell me to spam headshot 2, lol.

Any advice would be appreciated.

PS - Delta, thanks for all the hard work.

Edder,

You're welcome. We're newbie friendly here.

Hitting lairs is always an issue when you are of a lower level. If you've not completely farmed the lair, you're going to get hurt. The procedure you are currently using is the best one - smack, peace, kill, do it again.

You'll get a movement penalty no matter which way you are facing. Best thing is to run backwards using the back arrow key - this way you don't have to turn around and lose sight of the lair.

To speed the process up, you need to be doing things that will maximize your ability to hit the lair hard. Don't use your specials, as they won't work on a lair - they don't have HAMs. So, first, make sure you've got a good weapon. Second, get a powerup that will increase your maximum damage amount. You can find these on the bazaars, or from weaponsmiths, and they are relatively inexpensive. If you have learned the "aim" ability, this may help bump up your to hit chances and keep you from missing the lair or spawns (at the cost of a decreased firing time - so if you've got a rifle, watch using it often).

As you move up the ranks and acquire more skills and better weapons, you'll hit harder. A gnort lair usually took me about a minute of solid firing when I was working up the Scout tree. Now I can take one out in two shots.

As with anything in this game, being at a low level means a bit more tedium. But the payoff is great.

Good hunting!

B

I find Overcharge Shot works on lairs.

Also, Pointblank Area works as well if you want to take out the extra mobs while taking out the lair. Just stand close to the lair when doing this. This only works if the mobs are blue.

Stay away from the faction destroy missions. They seem to be way too hard at the moment and are impossible unless you are in a group.

"Don't use your specials, as they won't work on a lair - they don't have HAMs. "

What about Overchage pistol shots? Will those do more damge to a lair than a regular shot?

Edder -

You did not mention what sort of weapons you are using, so my advice may be moot. If you are still using CDEF weapons, do anything you need to do to get better weapons. I was having a terrible time soloing lairs when I started until a kind hearted weaponsmith named Meria gave me a DL44 with a promise to pay her back when I got the money. With my new 44, I had the 2000 credits she was asking for inless than an hour fromlair destroy missions. The difference was absolutely amazing. Obviously better weapons are always, well, better, but I had no idea how much the starting CDEF stuff sucked. It really made all the difference for me.

I just shoot the lair, let the creatures that come out and surround me, as they get ready to attack i just kill them all. :-)




Actually i don't, i'm nowhere's near that good, yet. Stick with D up there he knows what he's talkin bout.

Ray,

I don't consider overcharge shot to be a special - it's an emergency backup attack that you should only be using if you absolutely need it.

It seriously damages your weapon over time - if you use it to attack lairs, you'll burn out your gun in a single night. Not a good idea.

B

Remember to work on all your scouting skills. And picking up novice medic will help you since you can /healdamange. Use your traps, even if all you can afford to make is wire traps that effect melee. You still get trapping xp. Then slowly kill off the mobs and lair, trapping and harvesting each one. Once your 2 missions are done, pitch a tent and heal up. Run back to town, hit the cantina for your bf and mind quickly, get 2 more missions and do it again. Remembering to camp/heal and trap will really help you not to fall behind in those categories and have to get like 20k of trapping xp when everything else is done.

It goes quicker as you progress. Keep at it, have fun. Its not a race

First createa macro called roustLair that does this:

/attack

/peace

The best way to hit a lair is to first track down and kill any creatures that are outside the lair when you arrive.

Once they are all dead, run the macro, this will make more creatures start to spawn. No kill them all and wait a bit. If no more spawns start, run the macro again.

Repeat this until you get no more spawn even when you repetedly run the macro. Once that happens trash the lair.

A rifle is the best weapon for this. Stay back far and use mind shot, you can usually take creatures out before or right after they reach you. Tusken rifles are excellent for this.

If you use a carbine, you can use /fullAutoShot (I think its called that) instead of attack in the macro and you will do more damage to the lair when you hit it.

Pistols don't do to well with this tactic, you have to get too close, but they may work with a little caution and if you avoid very aggressive creatures that attack in packs.

Bal Serinus (Theed, Bria)- "If it bleeds, we can kill it"

Ooops, you should target the lair when you run the macro. Forgot to mention that

Something I find interesting.
If you use the
/attack
/pause'x'
/peace
Method to attack the lair once the area is clean, the creatures that 'pop', will sometimes agro you instantly, and sometimes they wont.
I'm guessing this has something to do with the pause time?
I currently have it set at 3 seconds, as when proning at 2, I will not have exectuted an attack by the time I peace.
Curiously, I can use pause 2, when crouching.

What is the best time to use?
Though I'm guessing my problem is latency related (300ms).
Any ideas?

I am using maskscent while proning also, at a distance of 55-60 metres, using a laser rifle (19-337, 6.4s).

Had a good destroy mission rifle powerup, +30 Pointblank penalty

Specials work, and don't forget to use aim.

I ama bit higher on the carbine skill so I can use /fullAutoSingle2, but 1 should work as well

Here is a macro I use when hitting the lair:

/aim; /fullAutoSingle2

Of course you could use /aim; /fullAutoSingle1 once you get it. The aim is important, as it will kick up the damage you do from a distance. Aim normally takes an attack turn and can hinder slow fire weapons but when you are doing that first attack, it is a free attack bonus.

Yosh

If I were you, I wouldn't bother with lairs until I was a couple of levels into Marksman and Scout. Pick a town with a decent newb monsters surrounding it. Then proceed to make laps of the town killing any and every creature you come across. Harvest everything. Make lots of traps and use one of each of them on every mob you come across.

After an hour or two you will have enough experience to wield better weapons with better specials, you will get more hide and such from harvests and you will have better traps to help you with lair creatures.

Lairs may net you money, but for experience they suck at lower levels. You'll spend most of your time running out to them and dodging nasties, instead of getting XP. Also, once your a little higher level and have a better weapon, you'll get better rewards for those lairs.

As for taking out lairs, Delta's tactics are pretty standard (basically what you've been doing). The only thing I would add is don't use rifles. If you want rifles, you should train unarmed combat or pistol combat as well. Or wait until later in you careerto use rifles.