Imperial Master Scout
Novice Ranger
Theed, Naboo � Bloodfin
INTRODUCTION
Having previously written a guide that taught many scouts some of the hints and tips that I used to make it to the esteemed rank of Master Scout, one section I did not spend much time on was the basics of scouting � what to do, what the different tiers do, how to make camps and traps, etc. This guide isn�t for those who have been scouting for a while. It�s the for the rank beginner � the guy who just woke up today and thought �I think I�ll give scouting a try�.
So if you�re just starting scouting, here�s everything you need to know to get yourself up and running. Check out my other guide, From Novice to Master � How to Become a Master Scout, once you�ve gotten passed the basics. You can find it on Alakazaham, Warcry, or in the guide game forum.
So�what does the starting scout need to know?
TRAINING NOVICE SCOUT
In order to become a novice Scout, you need to be trained by a Scout trainer. You cannot be trained in novice Scout from another player � even a Master like me. It will cost you 15 skill points and 100 credits. Scout trainers are located in nearly every major city on the starter worlds (like Naboo, Tatooine, and Corellia for example). When you train in novice scout, you are given a Generic Crafting tool, and learn the ability to make the Basic Camp, two traps � the Wire Mesh Trap and the Lecepanine Dart, and the ability to Harvest Corpses.
WHAT ELSE DO I NEED?
In addition to the Generic Crafting Kit, every scout � unless you are planning on becoming a brawler � needs to have a good blaster. For the starting scout, I recommend the pistol, as most of the creatures you attack are going to run up on you very quickly. As you get further along and become more skilled at hunting, you can the decision to switch to the rifle or the carbine. The rifle is currently the most popular Scouting weapon, followed by the pistol. So grab up a CDEF and equip it.
HOW TO HUNT AND WHERE TO HUNT
For your first hunting, you really only need to go to the outskirts of the city. Use this to familiarize yourself with how the radar works, and how certain animals behave when you attack them. All of the creatures across the galaxy have different attributes � speed, damage ability, behavior, etc. You will quickly get to know the levels of XP you�ll gain from each creature you kill and soon have a favorite that you seek out. In the beginning, though, try your best to hit every creature that cons blue, light blue or green to you � sometimes even attacking whites and yellows to test your limitations. It may kill you, but the knowledge you gain will be more useful in the long run.
After you�ve cleared the outskirts of your starting city with critters, head further out and find some lairs. Creatures with lairs are pretty protective of them. If you stumble across a lair filled with yellow (non-aggressive) creatures, don�t think they�ll just let you stomp on their home without fighting back � they�ll all take you on at once. When fighting lairs, either for fun or as a mission for profit, take out the animals around it first, then attack the lair. As new animals appear, stop fighting the lair and attack them. This gives you tons of corpses to harvest, and its safer than trying to run away with a pack of 50 Chubas chasing after you.
After you get comfortable taking on creatures, you can venture further and farther away from your base city.
CLONING
As soon as you make 1000 credits, get your newly minted Scout hiney to a cloning facility. Not cloning doesn�t save you 1000 credits. The time you waste in healing in the medical center and the cantina, and the tips (if you�re a tipper) you give for healing and clearing up battle fatigue will more than outweigh that 1000 credits.
Clone before you buy new armor, clone before you buy a new weapon, clone before you train � clone first. Period. And whenever you visit another planet, especially any of the tough ones like Endor or Lok, make a stop at the cloning facility before you go anywhere else.
GROUPING
For the low level Scout, my best advice is to not bother with groups. You need to learn your skills and limitations first. In a group, you�ll need to compete with the other umpty-zillion characters with Scout skills and you�ll get frustrated quickly. Stay by yourself for a while to get the hang of things. Once you know what you�re doing, you can group.
HOW DO I GET BONE AND HIDE?
Bone, hide and meat are all things that you�ll need to have. You get these by harvesting corpses. When you�ve killed an animal, click and hold on the corpse. On the radial dial, you�ll see the option to �Harvest Corpse�. Depending upon the animal, you�ll be able to harvest one of the three, one time only. Some animals, like Nightspiders, only give meat. Others only give hide and bone. Most, however, give all three, and the decision is up to you.
Hide and bone are primary ingredients in a number of different artisan and scouting items, including armor, traps and camps. There�s a big market for hide and bone out there, in sizable quantities. Once you�re getting stacks of hide and bone in large amounts (100 or more) go and sell them on the bazaar. The price you charge is up to you, but my personal pricing is 3 credits per hide for anything below 800 overall quality, 5 credits for 800-900 and 7 credits for 900-999. You can tell the overall quality of the hide by using the �Examine� feature on the radial dial when you click on the bone or hide in your inventory.
CAMPING � HOW TO, WHERE, AND HOW TO MAKE THEM
Camps are an integral part of Scouting. They can be a lifesaver in the field, and are a skill tree that must be completed to get to Master Scout.
To make a camp, open up your Generic Crafting Tool. Under camps, you�ll see �Basic Camp�. Select it.
The basic camp costs a small amount of Hide and Bone, so you�ll need to have some in your inventory to make one. Drag the hide onto the hide slot, and the bone onto the bone slot. Click the create button. If you�re successful, you�ll go to the screen that tells you how successful you were. If you aren�t, you�ll get the �critical failure� screen and have to start over. Once you get to the success screen, click create again, and the camp is made and placed into your inventory.
For right now, you need to be a certain distance (between 750 and 1500 meters depending on the city) away from a city to set up a camp. Once you are that far away, go into your inventory, and click on �use� over the camp. The camp will be setup.
Camps are one-time-use items. Every camp you use is gone forever, and you�ll need to make a new one. A good suggestion is to have at least four camps on hand at all times, in case you need one.
While you are in the camp you can heal just by waiting and there is a slight modifier to your heal times. Doctors and Medics can heal you and tend your wounds, and entertainers can heal your mind wounds. Entertainers cannot, however, heal your Battle Fatigue � you can only do that in a cantina or hotel.
Survival (Camping) XP is given based on how long you stay in the camp, how many people visit, and how much healing takes place. They don�t increase the amount of XP you can get from any single camp, they decrease the time it takes to get that XP. XP is capped at a maximum for each type of camp. For Basic Camps, you can�t get more than 640 XP no matter how long they remain up and you sit there healing.
When you are finished with your camp, you need to break it down. Do this by using the little computer terminal on the ground near the tent. Click and hold on it while it�s yellow and you�ll get the option to �Disband Camp�. You�ll also get the option �Camp Status� which lets you see how long the camp�s been up, how many visitors, and who created it. Select �Disband Camp� and the camp will disappear and you�ll get your XP.
Don�t simple abandon your camp, as there can be problems with getting the XP from it when that happens. Also � you can�t get involved in combat while your camp is active, or the camp will automatically abandoned � although it won�t be taken down. You simply won�t get any XP for waiting around there after you�ve been in combat. Best to wait until you are healed to go fight again.
The further you progress in Scouting, the better and bigger your camps.
TRAPPING
Traps are another fundamental part of being a scout. They are easy ways to help make the creatures you hunt a bit more easy to kill.
You start off with two traps, and gain more for each level you gain in Scouting. In order to use traps, you first need to craft them.
Follow the same procedure as for making tents, but instead use the trap schematic. Both traps take hide and bone, though some upper traps will need metal, polymer and meat (musk). Get your metal and polymer off your artisan friends or off the bazaar.
Once you�ve made the traps, drag them up onto your quickbar. This is the easiest way to use them in battle.
When you want to use the trap, push the function key or click on them in the quick bar. You will lob the trap at the creature. It can either hit and have no effect, or hit, damage the creature, and give you XP.
You can throw multiple traps at creatures and continue to gain XP � as long as the trap you are throwing doesn�t cause an �effect�, such as making the creature �Dizzy� or �stunned�. You can tell if they make an �effect� because a little white icon will appear next to their HAM bars on their targeting screen in the upper right hand side of your HUD. Wait until it disappears and throw the traps again.
Trapping is easy to do, and very easy to progress through quickly.
TRAINING
There are four skill trees associated with Scouting. Two of them, Exploration and Hunting, use Scout XP to progress. Trapping uses Trapping XP and camping uses Wilderness Survival XP. When you reach your first level, go back to the Scout Trainer to train it up. It will cost 1000 for the first tier, 2000 for the second, and so on. You can also find many scouts in the major cities who will train you for free or for a modest tip.
Keep in mind � you are using the same pool of Scouting XP for both Hunting AND Exploration. So if you choose to train in one, you won�t have the XP to train in another. So pick the one you want more. Both have drawbacks and benefits. Exploring gives you bonuses to terrain navigation and speed, burst run bonuses, and the skill Maskscent. Hunting gives you access to better information on the creatures you hunt using �examine�, to-hit bonuses on creatures and increased harvesting of bones, hide and meat. The decision is up to you.
MASKSCENT AND FORAGE
Maskscent and forage are two skills that you gain as your work your way up through the Scouting tiers.
Both are controversial right now, as many Scouts haven�t been able to fully integrate them into their habitual Scouting behaviors.
Forage allows you the ability to find small bits of food and drink from the surrounding countryside. These can give you temporary modifiers to your states � they can increase your Health meter, increase you healing speed, etc. for short periods of time.
Maskscent helps you to skirt by the red �aggressive� creatures out in the field, and gives you a modest amount of XP if you are successful. Low level scouts, however, don�t have a very reliable Maskscent and it is easily broken. You must wait 60 seconds after each time a creature discovers you to reapply Maskscent.
To lower your frustration level, don�t bother too much with this feature until you get to the higher levels of
Exploration, above Explore III and IV.
CONCLUSION
Having read all of that, I know pronounce you fully qualified novice Scouts. Everything you need to know to get started is here, and I expect that pretty soon you�ll be a grizzled old veteran of the woods, trading stories about the size of the Fambaa that kicked your ass back in the Cantina to impress the ladies. Welcome to the Scouting profession.
When you want more info, read my or any of the other guides to scouting available out there to answer your more advanced questions.
Good luck, and good hunting!
|
Subscribe...
News...