Team Fortress 2/Scout

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• Health: 125
• Speed: 133%
• Type: Offense
• Special Ability: Double Jump, captures points two times faster than other classes

The Scout is the fastest and most agile class in Team Fortress 2. They have low health to compensate. Scouts are most effective in maps with few chokepoints, like Fastlane or Badlands. They can also be effective defenders in maps with wide open spaces like Gravelpit or some parts of Dustbowl.

[edit] Weapons

The scout is well suited for hit'n'run attacks. He can stay in combat for some time if needed, but it's not advisable.

[edit] Primary Weapons

• Scattergun
  • Damage
    • Point Blank: ~95
    • Medium Range: ~20
    • Long Range: ~6
    • Critical: 180 (reduced at range due to bullet spread)
  • Clip Size: 6
  • Reserve Ammo: 32
  • Slow reload, one shell at a time

The scattergun is similar to the shotgun. It deals more damage at point-blank but due to it's spread it deals less damage at far range. At point blank, 2 hits will kill many enemies, but this also puts the Scout at great risk. Aiming for center mass is important for most weapons in TF2, but it's more important for shotgun type weapons because glancing hits can do less than half damage, turning a 2 hit kill into a much more difficult affair.

[edit] Secondary Weapons

• Pistol
  • Damage
    • Point Blank: ~21
    • Medium Range: ~12
    • Long Range: ~8
    • Critical: 45 (comes in streaks)
  • Clip Size: 12
  • Reserve Ammo: 36
  • Fast reload

The Pistol deals less damage than the scattergun but is more accurate. Against many classes, the best strategy is hit them twice with the scattergun, then go to medium range and finish with your pistol. The pistol reloads very quickly, but it has little reserve ammo, so keep the location of ammo packs and dispensers memorized.

[edit] Melee Weapons

• Baseball Bat
  • Damage: ~40
    • Critical: 105
  • Swing Speed: 200%

The Scout's bat is generally used as an alternative finisher, used when the scout must conserve ammo. Avoid using it on enemies that are dangerous point blank, such as pyros and soldiers. Good targets include snipers, spies and unaware engineers.

[edit] Using the Scout

Often, the fastest way to heal yourself is health kits. Memorize their locations as soon as possible.

The Scout's speed is his main advantage, so especially with capturing missions he can reach the control point fastest. On most 2-way CP maps Scout rushes work extremely well attacking-wise if you can get there before the enemy. Even if you die before taking the middle point, you will slow them down a fair bit. Scouts are also very useful in CTF games if the enemy team isn't too experienced. The worst case scenario is you run straight into a sentry and give the engie an easy kill.

Learning to aim at speed as well as controlling the Scout's airborne movement is important. Mastering aim will allow you to land point blank blasts with the scattergun and hit with the maximum number of pellets, while proper control of movement will allow you to get in and out of trouble quickly, as well as minimizing damage while you're in the danger zone.

The Scout's speed, combined with his double jump ability, allows him to quickly flee trouble and often take paths where the enemy can't follow. Double jumping also allows you to get over enemy heads, which can be useful if you're cornered. In addition, you can occasionally land on the heads of enemy players. Since most enemies will immediately look behind and not up when you jump over their heads, this usually gets you an easy kill with the scattergun or bat.

The Scout's low health means that he can't take much punishment before he dies, and because his scattergun is so dangerous enemies usually make the Scout a primary target. Even his speed can't outrun enemy fire. In particular, one Pyro ambush with a flamethrower spells almost certain doom for a Scout unless they are very close to a health pack or water. Unless you are shooting them at the time, always keep something solid between you and dangerous enemies. Anything from a wall to a rock to a teammate can provide good cover.

[edit] Defeating Scouts

Scouts have incredibly low health, so it doesn't take much damage to put them down. Generally, using high damage weapons that don't require good aim is the best strategy.

1. Scout versus Scout fights tend to last a long time and are dependent mostly on who controls sources of healing. Because Scouts cannot run away from other Scouts, this type of fight is usually kill or be killed.
2. Soldiers are fairly evenly matched versus Scouts. As long as the Soldier isn't ambushed, fear of the his rockets will usually keep the scout out of effective scattergun distance, turning it into a pistol vs. shotgun fight.
3. Pyros are one of the best counters for Scouts. Afterburn deals 60 damage in total, so as long as the Pyro deals over 70 damage with his initial flamethrower ambush (shotgun is generally best here), the Scout will be forced to find healing/water or die. A hit with the flaregun will also reduce the Scout to half health.
4. Demomen usually have trouble actually hitting Scouts. If direct hits can be scored, a scout will usually die in 2 stickies or 2 grenades. Occasionally, a grenade will 1 hit the scout without a crit.
5. Heavies are fairly good against Scouts. Smart Scouts will hit you once or twice then run away before you can spin up, so either start spinning before they arrive or walk with your shotgun out.
6. Engineer sentry guns are a hard counter to Scouts. As long as you or another Engineer is present to repair your sentry when it takes damage, the Scout can usually do nothing against the sentry except take another path. Alternatively, if the engineer isn't present, the Scout can get into a position in which they can shoot the sentry, but cannot be shot back. From that position, the Scout can kill a lvl 3 sentry in 2-3 pistol cartridges.
7. Medics can be effective against Scouts defensively, Scouts usually have to retreat if you do something as simple as backpedal while firing syringes. Offensively though, the Syringe Gun (and it's counterpart, the Blutsauger) is not effective while moving forwards.
8. Snipers are usually outclassed by Scouts unless the Sniper has very good aim. A single headshot or a fully charged bodyshot will kill a Scout.
9. Spies are poor against Scouts. It's difficult to land a backstab on a fast moving scout and hitting them with the revolver is difficult.