Three Kinds of Scouts
When you look at the title, you think, “Oh boy, another rant.” Not so. I’m not talking about kinds of Scout players, I’m talking about loadouts and their specific advantages. Each weapon has specific uses, and there are three loadouts I’m going to talk about here.
The Defensive Scout
Primary: Scattergun
Secondary: Pistol
Melee: Sandman
This loadout has incredible firepower but slightly limited mobility. The Offensive Scout has a total of 86 shots at his disposal, plus however many baseballs he can regenerate in one life. His lost double-jump is a small price to pay, as a defensive player is rarely on the move. In the case of a rush in another part of the base, there are no official non-arena maps I have seen that require vertical movement to quickly get from A to B.
One thing to remember is that, although it takes away your double jump, the sandman in no other way impedes you. If there is a way out of a fatal situation, just run. You’re neither as damaging as a Pyro, nor as slow.
The Offensive Scout
Primary: Force-A-Nature
Secondary: BONK!
Melee: Bat
This loadout is all about mobility and speed. The Triple-jump afforded by the FaN allows a scout to get to more places than it is sensible to discuss in an average article. The BONK drink also allows for a sprint across an enemy’s line of fire to get to a more advantageous position (though you’d better be sure you can get there in six seconds).
The Offensive Scout can get to many places most others can’t, with a chunk of health left that the average Spy or Soldier envies. This loadout will get the Scout where he needs to go, in as tight a deadline as he needs.
If he’s not an idiot, that is.
The Support Scout
Primary: Force-A-Nature
Secondary: Pistol
Melee: Sandman
This is an odd mix, but only as odd as a Scout being a team player. This loadout is geared towards team aid, keeping other teammates out of harm’s way whilst slowing down the enemy. The FaN makes up for the loss of a double jump, and allows the scout to push an enemy away from a threatening position.
The Pistol is a valuable asset for drawing an enemy’s attention. If a spy is in a good position, you can draw his target into a distracted and vulnerable position. “Sitting Duck,” I think, is the accepted term.
The Sandman lends itself to some pretty spectacular kill assists. Take, for example, a scenario I call “Headhunter”. You, as scout, have partnered up with a sniper. You can go around the map, stunning enemies at just enough range for the sniper to get a good headshot on them. A pretty deadly, if unconventional, combination.
And there you have it. Those are my three loadouts, which I’ll get around to using as soon as I unlock more than one weapon.
Credit for the G-Mod Images goes to Dracula Guy. Thanks, man.
Stumble it!
slipstream responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 8:05 am #
I usually take the role of Supportive Scout. I want to show why I like the Sandman; because it helps my team (particularly Snipers looking for a headshot and Spies looking for a backstab).
Still, I do occasionally go for the FaN, Pistol, Bat loadout just for the mobility option.
WD40 responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 8:26 am #
Very nice job describing what combinations which are good together. I’m a defensive scout and that’s exactly what I like to use.
CrabGuy responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 8:38 am #
I just use Bonk.
OH GOD WHO AM I
FlyingHat responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 8:48 am #
@Crabby
You’re a smart little boy that’s what. ;o
Zanpa responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 8:50 am #
Oh my gawd, I’m not a Scout.
There are three types of Scouts with different loadouts, and I don’t use any of these…
Basic pre-update loadout makes me strong.
Mickyan responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 8:56 am #
I do actually think the FaN is a fantastic weapon for defence, a lot more than the scattergun.
Think of it, the FaN knockback keeps enemies away from where they could cause harm to the team, and while in the air they can easily be taken down by your team, so since the scout will usually find himself fighting alone in attack, therefore can’t rely on team mates that much
Secondly, the FaN holds 2 bullets, which means you can’t really afford to miss: you have an advantage during defence, you KNOW your enemy is trying to get to your point, so you can either flank him or go straight in his face just in time to unload your two bullets in his face as you know where he’s going to go
With the scattergun you have more freedom of missing and while on defence you can simply pick targets to take down one by one, in attack you will mainly have to deal with multiple enemies, and they won’t just let you reload without fighting.
The FaN holds half of the scattergun’s magazine reserve but it ain’t a problem on defence as you will be close enough to your refill cabinet and/or dispensers. It can be a problem on offence
Overall, both weapons are usefull in both attacking and defending, but in my opinion the FaN on defence is more effective
The bonk can be used for blocking chokepoints for a brief time but no doubt the pistol is a lot more usefull on defence
Ethan responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 9:48 am #
Your missing the default scout…
his job is to basically own everybody unless he gets hit with a baseball…
Azul responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 9:53 am #
I am not sure I will ever trade my regular scattergun for the FaN. It’s an okay gun but the scattergun is just perfect for surgical strikes against medics, engies, snipers and spies. You’re lucky to take down even a sniper when using the FaN… and heaven forbid you run into a heavy. The scattergun makes it often pretty easy to kill a heavy… if you sneak up behind them point blank you can usually sink a couple of shots into them without them even turning around. Those couple of shots are usually all that it takes.
soylent robot responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 10:20 am #
Huzzah! not a rant!
you win: +10 Not-Another-Pissy-Rant points!
Barotte responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 10:38 am #
Scattergun
BONK!
Sandman
Works for me!
Alec responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 10:52 am #
This post seems like a thinly-veiled excuse to show off Garry’s Mod pictures.
Not that there’s anything WRONG with that. Garry’s Mod is cool.
Lately I’ve taken to being an outright jerk of a Scout by using all the unlockables. You can shove people, you can stun people, you can chug a Bonk! and stand in their way. It’s great fun to toy with people.
Something people haven’t seemed to figure out about the Sandman yet: you regain full control of your character as soon as the camera begins to zoom in, so you can start moving about half a second earlier then you’d think. I’ve seen plenty of chucklenuts not moving ASAP. Then I beat their head in with a bat, because they’re not moving when they could be. =o
This also applies to Scouts who chug Bonk!. Holding down M1, you can actually unload the Force-A-Nature before the camera zooms into your head. It’s handy against people who think they’re so smart, ‘trapping’ a scout in the corner while they flail uselessly with their melee weapon.
Koen responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 11:12 am #
I noticed that by very quickly pushing left right left right … in the post bonk slow down my scout runs faster, more on par with the demo so somewhere between soldier and pyro. Does anyone else get that?
Also you forgot the disruptor scout, with FAN, bonk and Sandman. You can take a bonk, run straight into the opponents and let fly with the FAN, before ofcourse you meet a gruesome demise.
Dracula Guy responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 11:32 am #
@Alec: You did notice, he asked for someone else to do the GMod pictures, right? You did notice the little “Credit for the G-Mod Images goes to Dracula Guy. Thanks, man.”
Dust Monkey responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 12:21 pm #
But I use all 3 new weapons. WTF am I?
Graven_Image responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 1:13 pm #
These are actually loadouts other than the average “haven’t gotten any of the acheivements” loadout and the “The unlockables must be better” loadout.
grell responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 2:09 pm #
I use the FaN. JUST the FaN.
This makes me the Dumb Scout.
Alec responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 2:44 pm #
@Dracula Guy: Yes, I did notice, actually. It still seems a little like a Garry’s Mod appreciation post. =P
Doc ock rokc responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 2:49 pm #
I like playing the support scout/defencive scout. why? because i dont care about the intel that much unless i know i can get there and not die (rarely) also two support scouts can kick some sirious ass when they are smart
Himmelstoss responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 3:10 pm #
Skilled scout:
Default loadout.
And he OWNS. He doesn’t need any sandman crap to kick butt.
Zanpa responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 7:35 pm #
Yes, I do own. Thank you.
=°
Graven_Image : actually I’ve unlocked all the three weapons. But I play Scout quite a lot and I didn’t see any of them make me better.
I kill less without my FaN and my Pistol. I can’t go where I used to without my Bat.
Now the only thing Scout unlocks do is annoy me. Bad Scouts getting a kill on me because of the FaN, which makes me fly 5 meters even if they miss me and I lose 20 HP.
I can’t aim when flying away. Neither can I when stunned. And I can’t kill a alcoholic Scout (yes we all know it’s beer).
This update made me less good after all.
Mickyan responded on 07 Mar 2009 at 8:05 pm #
I’m sure dumb scouts will soon start to choose demoman again so we can once again kick ass as the only scouts in the whole game
alex responded on 08 Mar 2009 at 5:44 am #
I would have thought that the defensive scout would have had the force-a-nature, to blast back them dang enemies.
Also, what about the scout that is awed by the new unlocks and just uses them, who could maybe be called the <>
a westie responded on 08 Mar 2009 at 6:20 am #
The FaN is a situational weapon. If you’re playing defensive on a stage with high up CPs, say point C on Gravel Pit or Point E on Steel, you’ll be able to screw with people who are climbing. Even if you don’t manage to knock them off, they’ll still be preoccupied with trying to keep their footing rather than 100% killing you, giving the rest of the team time to get on the point and help kill the enemy. And it’s good if you’re planning on quickly getting past enemy territory (ie for intel or to take out an entry teleporter) and pushing away enemies rather than fighting them.
Meanwhile, the scattergun seems to be a better weapon for a typical fight, as reloading is a pain and two shots from the FaN usually aren’t enough to finish off an enemy, so I end up going in with a bat after using the two shots, which is riskier than just killing the guy from a few yards away and running away before his friends come for me.
Nonomu198 responded on 08 Mar 2009 at 6:45 am #
I allways use default loadout and switch betweet the Sandman and the normal Bat.
Why? Because when I play Scout, I play Scout on Arena. And I play Scout to kill people. Small maps make it extremely easy to surprise the enemy with your baseball (note: I think the Sandman is, if not OP, a game breaker, but I am still using it because I AM NOT NICE), and sometimes you are gonna need that doublejump and that hit that won’t baseball (many times I went to melee battle, missing a critical [critical to the fight, not x3 damage] hit because the Scout dicides to throw that damn thing). I see many other Scouts using the FaN and owning me as Heavy with it, but honestly I don’t like using cover as a Scout and perfer to have 6 shots to an all-out attack.
I sometimes get out Bonk! for fun, but it generally makes me a bad player (I am allways tempted to drink it, and that slowdown makes it completely useless becaue the enemy either chases me to death or ignores me because he knows my team is behind me, making me run back and making the whole thing pretty damn useless).
Don’t tag loadouts, because most weapons have many uses (read: most, some are situational, like Bonk!, and that’s horrible) and many playstyles to adjust them to. There is no “Offensive Scout” or “Support Scout”. These “offensive/defensive/support” tags on the classes are just there because these are simple tags and tactics Valve put there to help beginners.
sam responded on 08 Mar 2009 at 9:13 am #
‘…the scattergun is just perfect for surgical strikes against medics, engies, snipers and spies…’
All of those classes can be taken down with two shots from the FaN. And it fires those shots double speed!
MasterDS responded on 08 Mar 2009 at 4:40 pm #
I’m a support scout, your description matches my scout behavior perfectly, though that might be a coincidence.
Acefighter responded on 11 Mar 2009 at 1:27 pm #
sam:
A medic, engie, and sniper are unlikely to be alone, and you need the extra ammo when the heavy hears FaN fire, turns around, and sees a dead medic and a reloading scout. Replace “heavy” with “other snipers or wary pyros”, or “sentry”. Good luck with the spy, though – finding an invisible/shapeshifting opponent, while carrying a gun with two shots in it.
Anonymous responded on 14 Mar 2009 at 4:52 am #
Upgrade to Pro today!
Paper Shadow responded on 14 Mar 2009 at 12:07 pm #
Or, better yet, upload them to the Ubercharged Media Section!