Scout (Long War)
The Scout is a unique class that doesn't have an equivalent in vanilla XCOM, combining elements of Assaults and Snap Shot Snipers. The Scout's signature ability is Lightning Reflexes, greatly reducing the chance to be hit by overwatch fire while moving. Scouts are the only class other than Snipers that can use marksman rifles, but they cannot use sniper rifles.
- Primary Weapon: Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles, Carbines, Marksman Rifles, Shotguns, SMGs.
- Secondary Weapon: Pistols, Machine pistols, Sawed-off Shotgun.
- Class-Limited items: Marksman Scope, Chameleon Suit.
Abilities
Rank | Ability | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Specialist |
Lightning Reflexes The hit chance of reaction fire against this unit is reduced by 90 percent for the first shot, and by 70 percent for additional shots. | |||
+1 Mobility. | ||||
Lance Corporal |
Holo-Targeting
Shooting at or suppressing enemies confers +10 Aim to allies' attacks on those enemies until end of turn. |
Damn Good Ground Confers +10 Aim and +10 Defense against enemies at lower elevation, in addition to the usual elevation bonuses. |
Lone Wolf +10 Aim and Critical Chance if not within 7 tiles of an allied unit. | |
No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. | ||
Corporal |
Low Profile
Makes partial cover grant the defense bonus of full cover. |
Ranger
Confers +1 damage with primary weapons, rocket launchers, MEC secondary weapons and sidearms. Negates the long-range accuracy penalty with sidearms when shooting beyond 14 meters. |
Deadeye Confers +15 aim against flying targets. | |
No other bonuses. | +1 Aim. | +1 Aim. | ||
Sergeant |
Flush Fire a shot that may cause non-flying enemies to run to new cover. The shot is easy to hit with (+30 aim), but does reduced damage (-50% base weapon damage), and consumes extra ammo (2 ammo). Hunkered units will not relocate. |
Aggression Confers +10% critical chance per enemy in sight (max +30%). Aliens visible via squadsight are not counted for bonus. |
Battle Scanner
Scanning device that, when thrown, creates a new source of vision for 2 turns. Grants 2 uses. Increases throw range for battle scanners by 70% (does not stack with other perks). | |
No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. | ||
Tech Sergeant |
Concealment When the soldier moves to high cover, enemies without special capabilities will not target the soldier (but CAN sense him/her). Does not work if any enemies have line of sight to the soldier's starting position. Leaving cover, being flanked, firing, hacking arrays, and capturing meld will break this concealment. Low Profile units will not gain this bonus by occupying low cover. Firing from concealment grants +30% crit.
|
In the Zone Killing a flanked or uncovered target does not cost an action. Confers a -1 base damage and -10% critical hit chance penalty for each successive In The Zone kill. |
Hit and Run Your first standard shot of each turn against an uncovered or flanked target does not cost an action. Does not work against flying units, and cannot be used if Run N' Gun activated. | |
No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. | ||
Gunnery Sergeant |
Tactical Sense
Confers +5 Defense per enemy in sight (max +20). |
Bring 'Em On Confers 1-4 bonus damage during critical hits (which is then multiplied by 50% due to the critical hit). The damage is higher when more enemies are in view (including squad sight vision). This results in +1.5 dmg for 1-2 enemies, +3 dmg for 3-4 enemies, +4.5 dmg for 5-6 enemies, +6 dmg for 7 or more enemies. |
Sprinter
Grants +4 mobility (roughly 3 tiles movement). | |
No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. | ||
Master Sergeant |
Extra Conditioning
Confers 1-4 bonus health based on which type of armor is equipped. Heavier armor increases the bonus. |
Vital Point Targeting
Confers 2 bonus damage with primary guns, and +1 damage with sidearms, against humans and alien targets whose species have been autopsied. |
Smoke & Mirrors
Allows one additional use of all support grenades during each mission. It also increases charges from Smoke Grenade and Battlescanner perks by 1. | |
+4 Aim, +4 Will, +1 Mobility. | No other bonuses. | No other bonuses. |
Stat Progression
- Note that, even without Hidden Potential turned on, there is a chance of gaining 1 extra will per level (shown in parentheses above). Psionic soldiers can also gain 1-6 extra will per psi level (
1 + rand(6)
).
Tactical Advice
Role: Scout / Mobile Offense
In Long War, battlefield awareness is very important and the rebalanced ranges for weapons mean that line of sight and situational awareness is more important than ever. This is where the Scout comes into play.
Scouts have a great deal of flexibility in how they can be built. Here are some roles they can fill:
- Point-man
- A major role of the Scout class is leading the charge, drawing out overwatch fire with their Lightning Reflexes so that the rest of the squad can advance. A Scout specialized in this role will be built defensively, with perks such as Tactical Sense. They will typically be armed with SMGs for mobility, though given they're usually at the front, shotguns are also good in this role.
- Close range combatant
- Scouts are mobile enough to act a lot like an Assault, getting flanks at close range even without Run & Gun. Key perks to getting the most out of Scouts in this role are In The Zone or Hit & Run, allowing a Scout to move up to an enemy, kill them (or even several of them with ITZ) with flanking shots and then move back to safety. Shotguns are the weapon of choice for this role.
- Mid-to-long range flanker
- A flanker Scout will use their mobility to move around the side and get a flanking shot at medium-to-long range, either with a Marksman Rifle or Assault Rifle. Squadsight is available from Marksman Scopes to allow the Scout to use the full range of marksman rifles to make this easier.
Any of these roles can also benefit from the Scout's support perks such as Holo-Targeting, Battle Scanner and Flush.
Incidentally, Scouts also make for great covert operatives, as their wide variety of perks that increase mobility and survivability help immensely during Covert Operations against Exalt cells.
Sample Builds
Concealment Recon
Role: Recon
Pure information and utility build. Get your Scout hidden near the front line to plan engagements and let your snipers and LMG gunners get into position for a devastating first strike. Battle Scanner as a perk and Motion Sensors as an item give ideal information to prevent your squad from walking into a multiple-pod trap. Pick extreme mobility troops and give them a Strike Rifle and heavy Pistol. Caution: Concealment can get your Scout pinned, as you cannot move without activating in sight of an alien.
Sample Scout: Holo-Targeting -> Ranger -> Battle Scanner -> Concealment -> Sprinter -> Extra Conditioning.
Note: Low Profile does not work with Concealment. Ranger in its place allows some offensive utility, and allows a Strike Rifle to be used with a heavy pistol for reliable short range work. Extra Conditioning gives the Aim and HP to allow the Scout to slug it out when the firefight starts.
Equipment: Motion Scanner, Armor plating, or Chameleon Suit.
Covert Operator
Role: Covert Ops against EXALT
To serve as your covert operator, this soldier must work with a smaller weapon and item pool and therefore is geared around the idea.
Tree: Lone Wolf -> Ranger -> Battle Scanner -> In the Zone -> Sprinter -> Vital Point Targeting
Use: Your operative is likely to start away from your squad with lower health than all of them. Lone Wolf, Ranger and Vital Point Targeting will help when the operative needs to fight it out (or stall), while In The Zone will allow him or her to clean up after your main operatives. Additionally, the Battle Scanner will help keep eyes on and Sprinter will allow even easier mobility aiding with In the Zone.
Equipment: The best handgun you have, otherwise have the waist empty or filled with zero weight items. When brought to level up in a non-covert mission, bring a light weapon/armor.