Post by tojo on Aug 15, 2009 3:14:24 GMT
Alright. Here we go. You should know by now that there are typically 2 scouts/utilities on a normal 6v6 team. Their main roles are to protect the medic, protect the demoman, flank the enemy and attempt to kill the enemy medic. However, scouts are not limited to these roles by any means. They could certainly rush into the fray of battle, where only experienced soldiers dare to tread, but their speed and ability to deal high damage relatively quickly makes them well suited to hit-and-run attacks on the enemy team, on enemy medics in particular. In addition to hit-and-run attacks, if a scout is good at dodging and can hold his own, they can be quite effective at direct combat.
As far as defending medics, scouts typically only end up doing this if they need healing, or if the pocket and/or roaming soldier is dead. Scouts can be thought of in much the same way that soldiers can, in terms of ‘pocket’ and ‘roaming’ scouts. This is especially true in European leagues, where this an emphasis on keeping the demo alive to deal large amounts of damage. Frequently, one scout will remain with the demoman in order to compensate for the demoman’s weaknesses in direct combat. This leaves the other scout free to flank and observe the enemy – having a scout announcing the enemy medic’s location and status can prove extremely useful.
Now, in a typical 6v6 team, there are two scouts. But since there may not always be a need for them, scouts can serve as utilities, that is, they can switch to another class to better suit the situation. For example, a scout could go pyro (a fairly useful flanking choice on Badlands) or heavy (a very useful tactic, particularly on Turbine). I’ll go into more detail on utilities at a later date.
The scout is very well suited to capturing points. The scout’s fast enough to almost always be first on the point, and the fact that he caps at double speed helps to make him perfectly suited to capturing objectives. Because he will be the first on the point, the scout can establish an early advantage for a team (by clearing the middle point area of enemy scouts). In many matches, the team that captures the middle point early on wins, so scouts should keep this in mind.
When playing a scout, you are not gifted with large amounts of health, so it can be tempting to take health packs. Do not do this, unless an enemy is going for it. Leave health packs to your team’s medic. He can heal you if he gets the pack. You can not heal him.
On the issue of combat, try to avoid firing early. This is especially important in competitive matches. The earlier you fire, the more time the enemy has to react to you. This not only wastes ammo, as the scattergun does much less damage at long range, but when you are playing with highly skilled players, odds are that they will kill you if they have time to react. In summary, if you are undetected, wait until you close in before firing. The scattergun is absurdly strong at close range, so if you can get up close before firing, your efficiency will improve significantly.
Scout is certainly the most controversial class in terms of unlocks. Due to the controversy surrounding the use of these unlocks, many leagues (and even some public servers) have banned the use of them outright. The sandman, in particular, is banned in all serious leagues. The two unlocks that aren’t banned in all leagues, the FaN and Bonk!, see very limited use in actual matches, due to Bonk!’s situational use, and the FaN’s limited damage output and slow reloading speed.
With the recent buff, the FaN is beginning to see wider use in matches, but its slow reloading speed and low clip size hamper its widespread use . As it currently stands, it’s simply more convenient to use the scattergun, due to its higher overall damage output. Assuming you can aim, of course.
With scout, play can be improved with a few small changes. Now the first is going to take some adjusting to, and might need some extra desk space. To make aiming more precise, and to avoid wasting shots, use a lower mousing sensitivity, coupled with a larger mousing area. Personally, I use an 18″x14″ mousemat with my mouse DPI set to 3200, and my sensitivity set to 0.7 in game. This will help make shots more precise and less jittery, and should make your aim smoother.
Now, with soldier, learning jumps is extremely important. A good soldier should know where the map’s perches are, as well as where the map’s clipping is. This can be just as important for scout, who is easily just as mobile as the soldier, if not more so. While jump maps can be useful for soldiers, they are not nearly as useful for scouts. When practicing scout, learning jumps on stock maps is much more useful.
One extremely useful tactic, particularly in 6v6 play, is to partner with the other scout on your team. A well coordinated scout pair can kill combos if they dodge well and concentrate on separating the medic from his partner. This is an area where the FaN can be useful. If one scout bounces the medic away, the other can kill the medic. This then leaves the medic’s partner alone, and by that time, some of his overheal will have worn off.
One of the main roles of a scout is to finish off targets who are low on health, or ‘lit’. The scout shouldn’t be trying to fight fairly. He should be listening to his team and hunting down wounded targets before they can return to their team’s medic. This is another situation where the FaN can be useful. With the knockback, the scout can bounce targets into a good position to be finished off by himself, or his team.
Well, that should just about do it. Hey, take some of these tips to heart and happy scouting.
As far as defending medics, scouts typically only end up doing this if they need healing, or if the pocket and/or roaming soldier is dead. Scouts can be thought of in much the same way that soldiers can, in terms of ‘pocket’ and ‘roaming’ scouts. This is especially true in European leagues, where this an emphasis on keeping the demo alive to deal large amounts of damage. Frequently, one scout will remain with the demoman in order to compensate for the demoman’s weaknesses in direct combat. This leaves the other scout free to flank and observe the enemy – having a scout announcing the enemy medic’s location and status can prove extremely useful.
Now, in a typical 6v6 team, there are two scouts. But since there may not always be a need for them, scouts can serve as utilities, that is, they can switch to another class to better suit the situation. For example, a scout could go pyro (a fairly useful flanking choice on Badlands) or heavy (a very useful tactic, particularly on Turbine). I’ll go into more detail on utilities at a later date.
The scout is very well suited to capturing points. The scout’s fast enough to almost always be first on the point, and the fact that he caps at double speed helps to make him perfectly suited to capturing objectives. Because he will be the first on the point, the scout can establish an early advantage for a team (by clearing the middle point area of enemy scouts). In many matches, the team that captures the middle point early on wins, so scouts should keep this in mind.
When playing a scout, you are not gifted with large amounts of health, so it can be tempting to take health packs. Do not do this, unless an enemy is going for it. Leave health packs to your team’s medic. He can heal you if he gets the pack. You can not heal him.
On the issue of combat, try to avoid firing early. This is especially important in competitive matches. The earlier you fire, the more time the enemy has to react to you. This not only wastes ammo, as the scattergun does much less damage at long range, but when you are playing with highly skilled players, odds are that they will kill you if they have time to react. In summary, if you are undetected, wait until you close in before firing. The scattergun is absurdly strong at close range, so if you can get up close before firing, your efficiency will improve significantly.
Scout is certainly the most controversial class in terms of unlocks. Due to the controversy surrounding the use of these unlocks, many leagues (and even some public servers) have banned the use of them outright. The sandman, in particular, is banned in all serious leagues. The two unlocks that aren’t banned in all leagues, the FaN and Bonk!, see very limited use in actual matches, due to Bonk!’s situational use, and the FaN’s limited damage output and slow reloading speed.
With the recent buff, the FaN is beginning to see wider use in matches, but its slow reloading speed and low clip size hamper its widespread use . As it currently stands, it’s simply more convenient to use the scattergun, due to its higher overall damage output. Assuming you can aim, of course.
With scout, play can be improved with a few small changes. Now the first is going to take some adjusting to, and might need some extra desk space. To make aiming more precise, and to avoid wasting shots, use a lower mousing sensitivity, coupled with a larger mousing area. Personally, I use an 18″x14″ mousemat with my mouse DPI set to 3200, and my sensitivity set to 0.7 in game. This will help make shots more precise and less jittery, and should make your aim smoother.
Now, with soldier, learning jumps is extremely important. A good soldier should know where the map’s perches are, as well as where the map’s clipping is. This can be just as important for scout, who is easily just as mobile as the soldier, if not more so. While jump maps can be useful for soldiers, they are not nearly as useful for scouts. When practicing scout, learning jumps on stock maps is much more useful.
One extremely useful tactic, particularly in 6v6 play, is to partner with the other scout on your team. A well coordinated scout pair can kill combos if they dodge well and concentrate on separating the medic from his partner. This is an area where the FaN can be useful. If one scout bounces the medic away, the other can kill the medic. This then leaves the medic’s partner alone, and by that time, some of his overheal will have worn off.
One of the main roles of a scout is to finish off targets who are low on health, or ‘lit’. The scout shouldn’t be trying to fight fairly. He should be listening to his team and hunting down wounded targets before they can return to their team’s medic. This is another situation where the FaN can be useful. With the knockback, the scout can bounce targets into a good position to be finished off by himself, or his team.
Well, that should just about do it. Hey, take some of these tips to heart and happy scouting.