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From Novice to Master � How to Become a
Master Scout
By Brisc Rubal
This
is version 3.0 of my original guide to Master Scouting. It includes all
of the changes since the latest patch in late September. I've provided a
number of updates to this version that will make it even easier to use,
and adds some new tips, tricks and hints that I've discovered since the
last two versions. My sincere thanks go out to the hundreds of dedicated
Scouts who post on the SWG Scout Forums. I�ve liberally sprinkled your
ideas throughout this guide, as your help has been critical in keeping
this information accurate and informative. Thank you all so much for
your assistance.
So
you want to be a Master Scout? Excellent choice.
I�m sure you�ve read your manuals, and the guides you�ve been able to
find online. I�m sure you�re thinking "how hard can it be? All I�ve got
to do is wander around the woods killing everything that I see!"
Well, you�re half right.
While
writing and rewriting this guide, I�ve read nearly every single guide on
scouting that�s available out there, and many of them are good � but
most haven�t been updated in a while, so I thought I would take the time
to write out some ideas, tips and how-tos from the mouth of one who�s
lived it � and relived it on Test Center.
Having
earned the title of Master Scout after 11 grueling days of hunting
across the wilds of Naboo, I wanted to commemorate the event by aiding
all of you Novice Scouts who go to sleep at night dreaming of earning
the title of Master by providing some insights into things I�ve found
that work. I hope that you all will benefit by learning some of the
lessons that I had to learn the hard way. And I hope that by reading
this you�ll skip some of the frustrations and annoyances that can take
away from your enjoyment of the game.
I�ve
broken down this guide into the topics that I wished I had some help on
while I was out hunting. I hope this is easy to read, and I also hope
that it will answer most of your questions about becoming a Master Scout
and how to survive out there in the field.
THE BASICS
(Skip this if you�re already a Scout of have read my Novice Scouting
guide)
So what�s the point? Why be a scout? Simple � you are one of the few
nearly self-sufficient folks out in the galaxy. You can do nearly
everything you want by yourself, and you are an indispensable part of
any group (if you choose to join one).
Scouts have a number of skills that make them critical characters: We
can create camps, allowing people to heal and rest up out in the field.
We have the ability to harvest bones, meat and hides out in the field �
which are always in high demand from artisans and other manufacturers.
We have the ability to use traps to slow down creatures and help bring
them down quickly. As we progress through higher levels, we can mask our
scent to skirt around dangerous animals, get a bonus to our burst
running, and increase our speed up and down steep mountains and cliffs.
If you think running isn�t that important � group with a Wookie near
Deeja Peak on Naboo.
For an excellent overview of exactly what you need to be a Novice Scout,
please see "Brisc Rubal's Guide to Novice Scouting" which can be found
at the top of the SWG Scout Forum, and also is available on SWG Warcry
and SWG Allakhazam. These can be found using the �fan sites� link from
the main SWG page, www.starwarsgalaxies.com.
WHAT EQUIPMENT SHOULD I BE
SURE TO HAVE?
As a starting scout, you�ll need a couple of things. First and foremost,
get yourself a weapon. After that, make sure you�ve got a general
crafting tool. You can�t make traps and camps without one. If you are
bugged and the game doesn�t provide them (be sure to get a safety
deposit box and check for them there) you can always find players
willing to give them away to a new player. If you can afford one, pick
up a Weapons, Droid and General crafting tool. You�ll need one of these
to be able to experiment on your camps and traps (although the jury is
still out on whether or not this makes a difference as to their
quality).
As a starting scout, you�ll be able to make the lowest level traps (Wire
Mesh and Lecepanine), and the Basic Camp. Once you get out in the field
and start killing animals, you�ll get the materials you�ll need in order
to build these traps and camps.
Always have some traps and some camps available. You�ll never know when
you might need them.
DOWNSIDES
The largest downside to scouting is simply that nearly everyone has the
novice scout skill. So when you group, you�re going to be in line for
that valuable wilderness survival XP. This can make grouping extremely
frustrating for the motivated novice scout � which you can read about
more below.
Not only does nearly everyone have it � everyone wants to move forward
in at least some of the skills. Some of the most popular hybrid and
elite professions, namely Bounty Hunter, Creature Handler and Ranger,
all require significant scouting experience. So many who aren�t on a
path to become Master Scout�s will be crowding you out for XP. Don�t
worry � you can still make it. Using the tips I provide here, you can
follow in my footsteps.
WHAT PLANETS SHOULD I HUNT
ON?
I�m partial to my home planet of Naboo. The wildlife is plentiful, the
views are spectacular, and the world is big enough to have a number of
cities that can provide you with markets for your goods (hides and
bones), places to rest up and heal, and ample opportunities for
grouping, if you so desire.
Any of the other sparsely populated planets are good as you rise through
the ranks to higher levels of scouting. But be careful � many of the
planets out there, like Dathomir, Lok and Endor, are not places to go
alone. Others, like Dantooine, are so sparsely populated that they make
it difficult to train and advance without help. The starting worlds,
like Tatooine, Corellia and Naboo, are excellent for beginning, seasoned
and Master Scouts.
Personally, I never needed to step foot off Naboo to make Master Scout.
This may not be the best thing for you, especially if the exploration
bug has infected you. Since I first wrote this guide, I've visited every
planet and hunted on them all. Of the starter worlds, I find that Talus
and Naboo are the best, as they both are not nearly as crowded as
Corellia and Tatooine. You'll find more prestine, less traveled areas on
these two planets then on the others.
For the upperend planets, my two favorites have been Dathomir and Yavin
4. Both have high level mobs, good money making opportunities and have
such frightful reputations that you rarely deal with large crowds of
people. Now that exploits have been removed from Endor, Dathomir, Lok
and Dantooine, the player levels on these planets have returned to
normal.
WHAT ELSE SHOULD I TRAIN IN?
While being a scout makes you nearly self sufficient, you really aren�t
unless you compliment your scouting skills with other novice skills. You
don�t need to do much advancing in them, but having them will make your
climb through the ranks much easier.
First, you absolutely must have combat skill. My last guide was
criticized for not including Brawler as a primary base skill for
Scouting. While I am partial to ranged weapons, there are many fine
Scouts who began as brawlers. If you decide to go brawler, focus on
two-handed weapons, as these affect the mind pool, which is easily
complimented by the wide array of traps available to us.
When I first wrote this guide, I had almost exclusively used a pistol.
Since then, I have refined my tactics and have now switched to rifle for
long range work, and two-hand sword (swordsman) for close in work.
Carbines - right now - are extremely difficult to use, as their special
action costs are extremely high. I would suggest that you steer away
from Carbines for now.
I became a Pistol Specialist (Apprentice Gunfighter) far sooner than I
became a Master Scout. 95% of the animals you attack are going to close
to melee distances with you, so being able to hit them up close for
serious damage is critical. If you plan on using your scouting skills to
round out a solid PvP player, compliment your pistoling with rifle,
carbine or both.
Soon after I became a Master Scout, I worked my way up the rifling tree.
Rifles are the best compliment to a Scout's skills - even more so than
my trusty pistol. Scouts can crawl up quickly, go prone, use mask scent
and get two or three solid shots off (despite the slow recycle rate for
rifles) before most creatures have been able to detect you. This lets
you pick them off from long range in relative safety. In addition, the
higher end rifles will hit for more damage (although this is offset by
recycle times) than your pistol will. Rifle attacks on the mind pool are
best used in conjunction with traps that do mind damage, like the Sharp
Bone Spur. There is no equivalent trap for the Health pool, so in order
to gain the advantage, you'll need to use a rifle. And for the times
when your traps and rifle have failed to take down that critter and he
stars nibbling on you, taking out a Vibro Axe or Power Hammer and taking
him down close in is very useful. If you�re willing to work on it,
having a melee backup skill can make your more survivable for those
times when you can�t keep a creature at arms length.
Simply having a combat skill isn�t enough. You�re going to get knocked
around out there, whether its at the hand of a biggie � like a Rancor,
Fambaa, Torton or Kimo � or a little guy � like a Gnort or a Chuba.
Being able to heal yourself in the field without waiting for twenty
minutes in a camp is important. Spend the 15 skill points and the 100
credits and get yourself trained in Novice Medic. The ability to craft
stimpacks alone is worth the time, and when you are grouped, having the
ability to heal is a bonus that will make you popular quickly. You
probably won�t need to advance much farther than novice in the medic
field if you don�t want to � but having it will make life much easier.
If you do decide to advance, training in First Aid and Diagnosis helps
to increase your heal rate and healing ability for both damage and
wounds, so train these up first.
As a compliment to the medic field, here�s another skill that�s good to
have: entertainer. I know what you�re thinking. "How can a badass Scout
like myself dance around like a Cantina Girl?" The answer is simple: it
increases the amount of time you can spend in the field. Being able to
heal your mind wounds quickly, and being able to heal your groups
mindwounds in a camp will not only increase your camping XP, but it will
make your more self sufficient � only needing to go into town to get rid
of Battle Fatigue (which, unfortunately, you can�t cure in the field).
This also saves you from having to drag a poor, defenseless entertainer
out into the field. This is especially critical when you are on a
sparsely populated planet like Endor, Dathomir or Yavin 4. You are most
likely going to find yourself alone - no medics, no entertainers. If
you've gotten hurt, you're going to have to fix yourself. Being able to
do so will cut back on a lot of downtime.
Finally, having novice artisan helps to round out your skillset. Being
able to survey and sample for resources gives you the ability to make
some of the higher end traps that require metal and polymer that you
can�t get by foraging. Like being a medic or entertainer, you don�t
really need to advance very far in this field to get the benefits.
So here�s the tip: Pick up a combat skill, medic, entertainer and
artisan to round out your scout. Remember, if you don�t want one of
them, you can always ditch it later - you'll definitely have to as your
advance in the skill trees of the hybrid and elite professions. For me,
Artisan went first. It will be followed by Medic and finally
Entertainer. But for now, making it to Master Scout is aided by having
all of these skills.
THE QUICKBAR AND MACROS
I�ve got my quickbar setup to minimize the amount of time it takes me to
do the things I do most often � fighting, harvesting, crafting, trapping
and camping. You should do the same. Make sure that every one of the
things you normally do for Scouting XP (hunting, trapping and camping)
has a spot on your quickbar.
Since I first wrote this, I've expanded my quickbars from one set to
three.
The first two are identical - with the weapon type being different. The
setup is as follows: My weapon skills are on the far left, along with
crouching and burst running in case of emergencies. My harvesting macro
is in the center of my top toolbar, next to my traps - with six or seven
slots being devoted to them. This allows me to quickly ripple off a
number of traps in a row in order to quickly gain trapping XP. On the
far right are the autofollow commands.
On the bottom toolbar (utilized by pressing SHIFT and the function key)
are my lesser used, but nonetheless important, functions. These include
going prone, my secondary rifle shots, and mask scent. My center bar
includes my crafting tool and my Ranger skills. The rest of the bar is
devoted to camps, and finally my secondary harvesting option (whichever
one I�m not aiming for at the time).
This is repeated for two-hand sword, with the other slots being the
same. I've found that I've grown so used to punching certain keys that
by changing them around I hinder myself. Thus, I've done my best to map
out the same kinds of keys for my multiple quickbars.
My third quickbar has all of my armor and clothing on it. I don't always
want to be wearing armor, so I have it easily clickable when I need it,
and my regular clothes there as well, so I can quickly change in and out
of them, if I need to. My Imperial Uniform is also on this quickbar, for
when I need to impress the ladies.
HARVESTING MACROS
As a scout, you need to setup harvesting macros. Do this by going into
your skills sheet, clicking on macros and typing in the command. I have
three harvesting macros:
/harvest meat
/harvest hide
/harvest bone
Having these readily available will speed up the harvesting process, and
help keep other scouts from stealing your kills if they are quicker than
you in the group. Most of them won�t have a macro setup and you can beat
them to the punch.
TRAP MACROS
This macro is adapted from the camping macro that was originally posted
on the Scout boards by DaBamf. In order for it to work, you�ve got to
set up each of your traps in a quickbar slot � this could be quickbar
slot 4, if the other 3 are setup as I outlined above.
Write out a macro and place the start of it in your first quickbar slot
(F1). Then add in other slots for your traps. Type them out as follows:
/ui action toolbarSlot 02;
/ui action toolbarSlot 03;
/ui action toolbarSlot 04;
/ui action toolbarSlot 05;
/ui action toolbarSlot 06;
/ui action toolbarSlot 07;
/ui action toolbarSlot 08;
/ui action toolbarSlot 09;
/ui action toolbarSlot 10;
/ui action toolbarSlot 11;
/ui action toolbarSlot 12;
For each quickbar slot from F2 � F12, drag a trap up there. Now, each
time you hit F1, you�ll queue each of those traps up in your attack
queue, and rack up the trapping XP.
XP � HOW TO GET IT AND WHAT
TO SPEND IT ON
There are three major types of XP that are important to scouts.
First, is "Scouting" XP. This is used to get you through the Exploration
and Hunting skill trees.
SCOUTING XP
NOTE: Hunting and Exploring use the SAME types of XP. So when you train
up Explore 1, you lose the XP you had towards Hunting 1. You�ll need to
earn the same amount over to train up your Hunting Skill. I didn�t
realize this until my first training session.
Scouting XP is the easiest XP to get. You can get it one of two ways.
One way is to kill an animal and harvest the meat, bones or hide.
Different size and different types of animals create different amounts
of XP. The general rule of thumb is the tougher the victim, the greater
the XP. The other way to get XP is by using /maskscent, a skill you gain
after reaching Exploration 2. I�ll talk about /maskscent more in the "Maskscent
Strategies" section.
Which is better to train? This is a debatable topic, but I favor
Exploration. First, exploration gives you the ability to run faster up
hills, and also gives you increases to your burst run ability. These are
important, and very useful. You also get access to /maskscent, which
provides you with another means of gaining Scout XP, which you don�t get
by moving up the ranks in Hunting. Hunting helps you in harvesting
animals, and in determining which are dangerous and which are docile, as
well as which are likely to kill you when you attack them, and so on.
You'll increase the amount of hide and bone you take off an individual
creature, and you'll also get a creature to-hit bonus. But the downside
is that training up hunting never will give you a new means of gaining
XP. No matter what your opinion is on maskscent, it does provide you an
extra means of making XP and this puts it over the top in my opinion.
So what should you hunt? You need to be hunting medium sized animals,
that con either blue or white and you can kill without being severely
hurt. When I was grinding through the last few levels of the scouting
tree, my three favorite Nabooian animal lairs to stumble across were
Nightspiders (spiders), Hermit Spiders (more spiders), and Ikopi (deerlike
creatures). All of them yield 100+ weapons points, 10 combat points, and
a whopping 50 harvesting points. They are by far the best lairs to hit
when you are soloing. In a group, hit whatever you can find that you can
take down without getting severely hurt. Always be sure to moderate what
you are killing with how long it takes to recharge after a fight. One
example of a good low level creature that provides low XP is the Gnort.
Gnorts are easy - usually one shot kills for any specialist, and they
spawn amazing numbers of creatures from their lairs. Gnort missions are
lucrative and easy to find.
There is always a debate on whether or not to hunt for the bigger
creatures. While Belle Bolls, Jaxes, Fambaas, Tortons, Greater Desert
Womp Rats, Kimogilas, Krayt Dragons, Rancors and the other big creatures
do give great XP, you must balance that on the risk you take in
attacking them, and the amount of time it takes to bring on those down.
Sure, you'll get 2000+ scouting XP for stomping on a Kimogilas, but it
will take you 45 minutes with a bot, or half an hour kiting it � and if
you mess up, they can one hit kill you. In that time you could get three
times that much XP on a nest of Ikopi or Hermit Spiders.
TRAPPING XP
As a scout, you get a number of schematics that let you build traps.
These help to disable and slow down animals by affecting their HAM
pools, or their ability to move. This is one of the easiest forms of XP
to get. You simply craft the traps, and lob them at your target. If they
hit and take effect, you get the XP. Additionally, you can lob more than
one type of trap at any single victim � meaning that, for example, if
you have the ability to craft 6 traps, you can gain 6 times the XP for
every animal that you attack. A Nabooian Nightspider, for instance,
provides 50 XP points every time you hit one with a trap. Meaning that a
single Nightspider can earn you 300 XP points for trapping if you use
all your taps. 10-15 Nightspiders per lair means finding one wild
Nightspider spawn and killing all of the spiders in the lair can earn
you a whopping 3000 XP! You�ll blow through trapping quickly. Generally,
wild spawns tend to provide more creatures per lair than missions do, so
expect fewer spawns from a mission generated lair than one you happen
upon in the wild.
Another often cited tactic is to grab a friend or two, and attack a
large creature. The larger creatures offer the opportunity to make
significant trapping XP off them in a short period of time. The average
Fambaa or Torton yields 400 scout XP PER TRAP. So if you can hold out
from getting killed instantly, you'll be able to pull 10k+ XP off of a
Fambaa during an average fight.
In addition to the ability to get easy XP, you also get survival XP for
crafting traps. It�s not much, but it makes a difference when you are
grinding out that last bit of Survival to make master.
Traps also are useful in helping to take down creatures that you
normally couldn�t take out. Scouts can solo white, yellow and (rarely)
red creatures with the assistance of their traps, especially if they are
using a rifle. Make good use of them!
SURVIVAL XP
This was the hardest skill for me to master, because it takes the most
time. Thankfully, the Devs have heard our requests and have provided us
with other means for getting Wilderness Survival XP. You can get
survival XP from camping (as before), fishing (based on the size of the
fish you catch) and making camps and traps (the amount varies based on
the type of camp or trap). Each camp you make has the ability to get you
XP � with the levels varying based on the number of people who visit it,
the amount of healing that takes place while its up, and how long its up
for. Basic camps are limited to approximately 320 points of XP, and
Multiperson camps can get you about 640. Improved camps generally max
out in the 800-850 XP range.
The quickest way to boost your wilderness XP is to group. This isn�t
always possible though, because every group I�ve been in has had more
than one scout, and they�ve ALL wanted the camp XP. The most common
cause of contention between members of groups seems to be over who gets
to setup the next camp.
There�s an easy way around this: bring an artisan friend camping. To get
my last 5000 wilderness XP, I joined my friend, a weaponsmith, on a
crafting trip. Every time he stopped to sample, I healed him � sampling
takes away action XP and can be healed by a medic � and then danced to
heal the mind wounds my /tendwound skill gave. In no time, he was
getting great samples, and I was getting great camping XP, without
needing to wait 15 minutes to get the max XP.
In addition, if you are out in the field and have a camp setup, keep a
look out for folks passing by. If they enter your camp � even for a few
seconds � you�ll get a little bump up in your XP. I usually give a shout
with my coordinates to let anyone who may be around know they can come
stop by to visit my camp and heal � and give me that needed wilderness
XP.
Camp XP speeds are generally not affected by the type of camp. A basic
camp will generate the same XP as an Improved camp does. The difference
is the caps. If you are camping in a group, be sure to remember the
caps. If time has gone by and you've gotten some good healing in, but
you aren't completely healed yet, take down that camp and put up
another. This way no XP is lost.
Another great way to speed through camping XP, if you can do this, is to
have your Player Association friends hold their meetings in your camps.
That way you can conduct business, but also get some XP for it.
NO BUILD ZONES
The vast majority of no build zones have been removed from the game. You
now are only limited in placing your camps to areas within the
�Municipal Zones� of a city � generally within the city boundaries, and
areas near lairs. This has been a great boon to Scouts, as you no longer
need to travel hundreds of meters to be able to heal.
MASK SCENT
Despite near constant attention from the Devs, mask scent remains by far
the most controversial skill provided to us. Across the board, Scouts
all seem to have varying levels of success. Let me give you a little
background on mask scent and how it works.
Maskscent is based on your Mask Scent modifier. It originally was based
on your camouflage modifier, but this was changed as of the new addition
of the Ranger skill /conceal (which now uses that modifier). The
equation takes into account your MS modifier, your speed (whether
walking, prone or running) and the relative creature level of the
creature who is trying to detect you. So as your MS modifier increases
(with each level of Exploration), your chances of successfully getting
XP and staying safe with mask scent increase. But it is also important
that you are around creatures of a similiar level to you. A novice scout
running around on Dathomir is going to complain loud and long that his
mask scent is useless and doesn't work, while an almost-Master Scout
will be running around Lok doing the bunny dance because he's almost
levelled and not had to do anything for it.
If you are having difficulty with mask scent, try two things - first,
use it against creatures closer to you level, basically meaning ones
that you would have odds on actually defeating if they attack you.
Second, change your speed. Going prone and walking both modify your mask
scent prospects by between 5%-35% over running. Slow down, creep slowly
and you'll start seeing some XP spam on your window. Also keep in mind
that the larger the group of reds, the more likely it will be
(statistically speaking) that your mask scent gets broken. Each time you
get within the striking range of a creature (based on their ferocity)
you will be �checked� to see if the creature broke your mask scent. 10
creatures mean 10 checks, and with the bit of randomness that is added
in to account for luck, you may just get sniffed out � even against low
level creatures like Kreetles.
So what�s so controversial about the changes? Well, a number of things �
depending on your point of view.
Mask scent was tweaked to make it less likely to be broken, with the
offset of being decreased XP awards and the likelihood that a creature
breaking your mask scent will attack you. This has met with mixed
reviews from the community, especially as the �big update� from early in
September left mask scent bugged � it was TOO useful, never breaking,
but never providing XP. Now it is breaking again, and with the addition
of the creatures attacking, it has come under continued complaint from
many members of the community.
However, the changes weren�t all bad. Mask scent can only be broken by
red (aggressive) creatures now � yellow (non-aggressive) creatures have
no affect on it. Further, the timer that was implemented is now tiered,
so that the higher you go up the exploration tree, the less time it
takes to be able to remask your scent after it has been broken. Master
Scouts only have to wait 15 seconds to use mask scent again
The community is still working to determine if there is a bug in the
code, or if it needs further tweaking. But the skill has come a long way
from its originally implementation in late June.
FORAGE
Forage is an underutilized skill that is granted to Scouts. Similiar to
the artisan "sample" skill, foraging allows you to scrounge the
immediate area for food and drink. This food and drink provides
different buffs, such as temporary strength increases, HAM penality
reducers and other effects that have multiple benefits. At this time you
don't receive XP from a successful forage, and these remains a top
request of the Scouting community.
There is a bug with forage that doesn�t allow you to forage more than
two items at one time. If you forage more than 2, you�ll get an error
that your inventory is full � even if it is empty. This has been brought
up to the Devs.
Further, you can now forage in lairs, which provides you with
interesting items such as bees and eggs. The eggs are very useful for
chefs, and can be sold. The bees can be placed into a creature habitat
that is crafted by artisans. While these don�t benefit you directly,
they do provide some interesting visual affects.
WEAPONS AND ARMOR � WHAT
SHOULD I GET?
I�ve had experience with Melee fighting and Ranged fighting, so my
suggestions come from experience. In my opinion, the best weapon for a
scout to use is his blaster or rifle, for ranged attacks and a two-hand
sword, for melee attacks. Having a close in weapon is a good idea while
you aren't doing much damage as a rifleman. If you plan on going
strictly rifleman, you'll find it is necessary less and less, but that
journey can be long and drawn out.
As for the types of rifles and pistols out there, I would suggest three
levels of weapons to use. First, with rifles, try and find a DLT20A to
start (once you have the certification). These are good starter rifles.
Move up to the Laser Rifle when you can, and finally - once you hit
Novice Rifleman - find a T21. There is no better weapon out there, in my
opinion, despite the problems with them on some servers and the
perceived �nerfs� of the riflemen.
As for Pistols, you can go up through the ranks with a CDEF or a DH-44.
When you get to the mid level, I suggest sticking with Scout Blaster.
While its damage may not be as hefty as some of its larger cousins, its
firing rate is incredible, with the best sliced weapons (with power ups)
having 1.0 second firing rates. The higher end pistols, like FWG5s,
should be picked up once you get to the top level. Further, keep in mind
what kind of damage your blaster is doing � some creatures are
impervious to energy or acid type damage, and this may decrease your
pistol�s damage capabilities (Kimos are especially tough to kill with a
pistol.)
When you get a chance, have your weapon sliced. This helps by forcing
you, at some point, to either repair or replace your weapon, stimulating
the economy. It also can often increase your min-max rates and firing
speeds. My laser rifle was sliced down to 5.5 seconds from 8.0, and my
T21 to 8.6 from 10.9. Assuming you can find a reputable slicer, I highly
recommend having this done. Always be careful when getting your weapon
sliced � be sure that the player has Master Smuggler or Slicer in their
title, because otherwise they won�t be 100% sure of a successful slice.
Also, always be on the lookout for griefers and con men. Get the skinny
on a good Smugglers from your friends or your server message board, and
steer clear of Smugglers you�ve not heard of before. They could just
poof with your weapon.
This brings us to the armor discussion. Ahhh, armor. The staple of role
playing. Well, there�s a good argument to be made for not bothering with
armor at all � it damages your stats, and isn�t always that effective.
As a scout, you can fight fine without bothering with armor at all. But
that�s no fun � we�ve got to help our armorsmith friends out, too.
So what armor to choose? Don�t bother with Bone. While it looks mean,
you aren�t wearing armor for the looks. You�re wearing it to help you
from getting hurt. Bone armor is effective against laser blasts, but
again � as a scout � the only rifle wielding Kaadu you�re going to see
are in your dreams. Chitin offers better protection, but the
encumbrances are too high. Mabari armorweave provides good protection
against melee attacks, which is what you�ll be dealing with most of the
time. I recommend getting a set when you get the dough. And I know � the
pants look girly (I used to get questions about my "skirt" all the time)
but I�d rather look like a girl than be Bantha poodu.
So go with Mabari until you can afford the higher end armors. You can
find it in most of your big city bazaars and many armorsmiths make it
cheaply.
Once you can afford the higher end sets, start looking for armor that
has minimal encumbrances and high resists against kinetic damage (the
type a creature generally will do to you). I currently have a set of
Ubese that I use when attacking the biggest game. The encumbrances are
the manageable, and the pieces have give me significant protection. So
having a backup set of armor is usually a good idea. Padded and
Composite armors can get good kinetic resists � up to 80% on the best,
most expensive Composite, but the encumbrances are significant. You may
not be able to wear this armor without secondary HAM buffs from a Doctor
friend.
But like I said, you can argue that armor itself is a waste of time and
money. Riflemen especially have an incentive to not allow anything to
get close to them, which defeats the purpose of armor on a hunter. The
better rifleman you are, the less likely you will be to need armor. But
armor is still useful in PvP and faction fighting, so don't ignore it
completely.
MONEY
Scouts need dough. They just do. Maybe not as much as some characters,
but you�re going to want to buy a house someday (the Tarkin Memorial
Brigade's PA Hall, 2k north of Theed is a perfect example. It cost 350k,
not counting the furniture.), and you�ll want to buy a T21 and a set of
padded armor, and definitely want to be able to tip that cute Twi'lek at
the Cantina. So what�s the best way to make cash quickly?
There are two � selling resources and missions.
The more hide and bones you can get, the more you can sell in the
bazaar. And once you start hunting with a passion, you�ll get more hides
and bones than you can ever use to build traps and tents. Share the
wealth. Tip medics with them (they always need organics for their
crafting) and sell them on the bazaar. You�ll make pretty good cash,
especially the larger the lots you sell. Here's my quick pricing guide
for hides and bone:
1.) Sell in even number lots. Don�t sell 538 hide. Sell 500. It makes it
easier on your for computing the sales, and easier on the crafter, as
well.
2.) For overall quality 1-800, 5 credits per hide/bone/meat.
Example: Lot of 500 Lokian leathery hide, Overall quality of 567 sells
for 2500 credits.
3.) For overall quality 800-899, 7-8 credits per hide/bone/meat. Base
the amount on the secondary stats, like Decay Resistance, and base this
off of who you are selling it to. A Doctor won�t care about meat with
940 flavor, but a Chef will. And always keep in mind the 3000 credit
caps on the bazaar.
Example: Lot of 300 Nabooian bristly hide, Overall quality of 858 with
900 Decay resistance sells for 2400 credits.
4.) For overall quality 900-999, 10-15 credits per hide/bone/meat.
Example: Lot of 200 Dathomirian leathery hide, Overall quality 999 with
Decay resistance of 936, sells for 3000 credits.
You can adjust the fees slightly, depending on the market. But I have
made multiple sales - usually within one day - with these prices. Also,
be sure to learn what the crafters want and are looking for in your
wares. The better you know how valuable your harvests are, the more
likely you won�t sell your harvestables for significantly less than they
are worth. There�s a thread on the Scout boards entitled �What the
crafters want� that outlines all of this in detail. Check it out!
You are going to want to put your wares up on bazaars in high foot
traffic areas. Theed, Moenia, Bestine, Mos Eisley, Coronet, etc.
The other means of gaining money is running missions. Delivery missions
are fine � for artisans and entertainers. But they don�t pay half as
well as destroy missions, and you aren�t going to get Scouting XP by
taking the kiddie their prize for the best picture in the "Draw Lord
Vader in the Shower" contest. You will get it for going out there and
killing animals.
On Naboo, I have fallen in love with the Gnort Lair missions. When I go
grabbing missions, I exclusively take Gnort missions. These begin to be
available as you get higher in the ranks. Each mission pays at minimum
2000 credits, and each Gnort gives you 30-40 points of weapon expertise
and 29 harvesting XP. Fine � this isn�t a whole heck of a lot of XP, but
there are TONS of gnorts in each lair � usually 15-20, and they are very
easy to kill. Someone training for expert pistol or pistol specialist
can usually one-hit kill a gnort with your special action (body shot 1
or 2 for pistol). This makes "gnorting" quick, easy and lucrative. You
can run anywhere from 4-10 gnort missions an hour (if you get their near
to each other) which will generate anywhere from 8000 to 40000 credits.
Easy money. Other planets have similiar missions, some around the same
amount and some much greater. The goal when figuring out missions to
take is similiar to figuring out whether or not to hit large animals for
Scout XP - be sure to balance money and time.
The new Explorer mission terminals are excellent - they provide us with
a monetary incentive to do the things we already do. Some of them can be
very tough, but they can also be a great way to get out and see the
planet. There are two types of missions - hunting and recon. Recon is
exactly what it sounds like...you get paid to take the mission and run
out to the Waypoint. Once you get there you are successful and get the
cash award. Generally these missions are 3k to 5k away from where the
terminal is, so expect a good hike. The hunting missions are much more
difficult, but provide better compensation. They require you to kill
between 15 and 45 of a certain type of creature. Be careful: they are
EXTREMELY specific. If you get a mission to kill Spineflap Soldiers, you
can kill Spineflap Guards until the cows come home and you won't get any
credit. They HAVE to be the same critter the mission calls for. Each
time you kill one, you'll get a spam letting you know how many more you
need to kill to complete the mission. The other difficulty is that you
don't receive a waypoint for the mission - you need to find the
creatures yourself.
The higher end hunter missions can go for 10k credits and above...so
while they are time consuming, they also are very lucrative.
CONCLUSION
TO GROUP OR NOT TO GROUP
This is a difficult question, because it goes more to the heart of the
game than any of the above. If you�ve followed my tips, you�ve got a
nearly self sufficient character who won�t need a group to advance. But
is this fun? It can be. But that depends more on you and your playing
style than on the limitations or structures of your profession.
Now, while it is difficult, it has been made much easier by the
implementation of the new 60% rule. Now, Scouts in groups are ALL able
to harvest from a creature � instead of having to line up and rotate the
harvest. However, as an offset, you only get 60% of the resources you
would have gotten if you had killed the creature solo. Now that this is
in place, the choice of whether or not to group or not group comes down
to your personal desires, and not an artificial requirement.
I�ve found that when I was in a social mood, I enjoyed grouping with my
friends to go hunting. But when I was in a mood to make money or just
explore, I played the loner.
Going solo offers you the advantage of being in control � you pick what
to kill, when and how. You get 100% of all the resources from harvesting
creatures, and building the camps. And you don�t need to worry about
courtesy, etiquette and all that jazz. But it can get awfully lonely out
there all by yourself. And you�ll never get good camping XP (unless you
are willing to wait 15 minutes each time) to get the full amount from
your timer.
In the end, as a Scout, you don�t really have to group often to make it
to Master Scout. But if you never group, you�ll be missing out on a lot
of the fun the game has to offer.
CONCLUSIONS
When I originally wrote this guide, I promised beers in the Cantina.
Well, I've got about 4000 beers to buy. Thank God not all of you are on
Bloodfin.
I hope that this little guide to making Master Scout has answered some
of the questions you may have had that haven�t been answered by the
other guides out there. And I hope that the time and effort that I put
into reaching Master Scout will benefit some of you out there who have
the same goals that I had.
If you�ve got any questions, or need training, feel free to send me a
/tell in game.
Good luck, and good hunting!
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