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Eyes Complete Guide to Scouts
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Race Selection
Creation Runes
Focus/Skills
Disciplines
Playstyle
Tips/Tricks
Various Templates
Sources and Other Places for Information
Introduction:
Scouts have been my favorite class since the game hit the shelves. They are (with exception of pre nerf belgosh scouts) a class that actually requires thinking, strategy and cunning to excel at. One of the wonderful things about scouts is the many diverse ways to build one, depending on what you need/want to do with it. With this guide I hope to reveal some of the things I have learned so that you can enhance your enjoyment a very rewarding class. One thing I can say before we get started, as with most classes in shadowbane, Scouts are 20% build and 80% skill. If you are looking for a class to stand there in def stance and mash a bunch of weapon styles, make a Warrior, but if you’re looking for a class that can take on any class out there (and in some cases several at a time) keep reading.
Race Selection:
The first choice you’re going to come across is what race you’re going to want to play. There are so many great choices to choose from, and some not so good ones. Basically it’s going to come down to your play style, preference and what you are looking to achieve. I'll give a quick run down of each race and what I believe to be their strengths and weaknesses.
Human:
This race has several things going for it, primarily being you receive 11 training points per level instead of 10. These extra trains really help as you can train more skills and put more into your focuses than any other race. Humans have a good selection of disciplines to choose from, including wereforms. Humans also have decent starting stats, and with the addition of the Human Blood runes you can spike your stats to a respectable level. Humans can make excellent bow, dagger and throwing dagger scouts. Humans are by far one of my favorite choices for a scout.
Aelfborne:This race has good starting stats but that’s about it. The limit of good discipline choices really hurts this race. If the racial immune to snare is ever fixed to where its always on this might be a better choice but as for now, while going this race wont necessarily gimp you, there are better choices out there. Aelfborne make decent bow scouts.
Elf: This race has the ability to get the most dexterity of any of the races available, making them quite possibly the hardest hitting scouts available. Sounds good, well it comes at a cost, the racial max for con is only 70(65 if u take all the con runes at creation) meaning that your HP and Stamina pools are going to be much less than all other races. However, by spiking athletics you can make up for some of the Stamina and by being frugal with your weapon styling (as you should with scouts regardless) they can be quite formidable. Elves can also go Blade Weaver, which gives you access to the spell Find Weakness, which increases your dmg dramatically for the duration. Id recommend not going elf unless a. you are restricted by the lore rule set to do so, b. want to go Blade Weaver, or C. simply want a challenge . Elves make great bow scouts and are the only way to go if u plan on using swords.
Irekei: Irekei's are another favorite of mine. They by far make the best Unarmed and Dagger Scouts. They have excellent starting stats and have access to the Sundancer Rune which gives many extra useful Unarmed weapon powers including a atr debuff(this one is big as UA/UA mastery line doesn’t have one). They make fair bow scouts, but I believe that bow scouts are better left to the other races. All in all a solid race for what ever kind of scout you are looking for.
Shade: Shades have a great racial benefit that really shines for defensive toons, Immunity to blind. This alone is a good enough reason to want to make a shade scout, as atm pretty much everyone and their dog have access to blinds. Add to that that with the decent starting traits and good discipline selection and you have a very well rounded scout choice. Shades too, also have access to the Wererat discipline and I would strongly advise you, if you choose shade, to take it.
Aracoix: This race has the unique quality of natural flight, which comes in useful in several situations. Because of this they have the ability to be the fastest possible scouts in the game (flight gives a slight speed bonus). They also have access to the Skydancer Discipline, which among other things gives you a personal dmg buff and a power cost reduction/stam regen buff. There nice starting dex and high starting con makes them a solid choice for throwing dagger or bow scouts.
Nephilim: This race, while it also has access to natural flight, is the worst possible choice for scout you could make. Its extremely low dex at creation and mediocre con mean that the only viable build you could go with is one with a strength based weapon. Add to the fact they get next to no choices for disciplines and you can see why these are very rarely chosen to even attempt to make into scouts.
Vampire: Vampires atm seem to be the strongest choice for scouts. The reason being is this: A. Their powers cost hp instead of stamina, which can be replenished in the form of offensive drains that dmg the target and heal you. B. They have access to the Belgosh and Strigoi runes which give several great powers in way of Fortitudes(think Damage Absorber that only works for certain dmg types/amount of dmg done), SUMMONS, the ability to ignore your targets passive defense(block/dodge/parry), and a couple others. They also have awesome starting stats and great discipline selection which truly makes this race one of the best you could choose. They are very vulnerable to fire and holy dmg though so be wary of this when engaging your enemy.
Creation Trait Runes:
Ok, you have decided what race you wish to roll with. Awesome, now its time to decide what traits you want to add to your Scout to make him/her go from ordinary to "UBER". I still find myself surprised when people ask me for templates and still don’t know what traits do what and why they should take them. I'll simply go down the list and help decipher what those mouseovers mean on the runes that would actually help a scout.
Agile: +5 to Dex/+5 to Max Dex - Req. 40 Dex - Costs 6 stat points. In most cases Lightning Reflexes would be a better Choice As it raises your dex and max dex higher. Though if you’re hurting for points at creation this is one you can go with.
Resistance Runes: (Example: Blessed, Blood of the Desert) These give +5 to their respective spell resistance. Cost 4 points. This can be a way to raise a racial resistance deficiency but 9 times out of 10 you will not have the points to take one of these runes. Be aware that most of these do have certain race restrictions.
Weapon Skill Runes: (Example: Bowyer Born, Eyes of the Eagle) These give +5 to their respective weapon focus. Cost 4 points. These are an excellent choice if you have the points available. For the cost of only 4 stat points you can raise your weapon focus skill by 5 points, giving you better Dmg/Atr/Def. Note that the Unarmed Rune "Sold to the Pits" Gives +10 to your Unarmed Focus, making this rune a must for any unarmed user.
Racial Blood Runes: (Example: Born of the Taripontor, Scion of the Twathedilion) These give +5/+10 to their respective stat, 10%health, stamina or mana regen increase. Cost 10 stat points. A very nice addition to help round out elven and human characters. Don’t forget that though you used to be able to buy these from a bloodmage in game they are only available at creation now.
Brilliant Mind: +10 Int/+10 Max Int - Req. 50 Int - Costs 12 stat points. This rune, and its smaller counterpart Clever are used to boost your starting Intelligence. Usually used so that you can apply a bigger con rune in game.
Fleet of Foot: +5% movement speed - Req. 50 Dex - Costs 10 points. This rune when applied will make you run 5% faster than your racial movement speed allows. Some people swear by this rune though I usually neglect it, as we are granted the running skill upon promotion, which does the same thing. However if you are looking to make the fastest possible scout available then consider this rune.
Healthy as a Ox: +10 Con/+10 Max Con - Req. 50 Con - Costs 12 stat points. This rune, and its smaller counterpart hearty are used to boost your starting constitution. Usually used so that you can apply a bigger con rune in game.
Hearty: +5 Dex/+5 Max Dex - Req. 40 Con - Costs 6 stat points. In most cases Healthy as a Ox would be a better Choice As it raises your dex and max dex higher. Though if you’re hurting for points at creation this is one you can go with.
Increased Stat Runes: +1/+3Max - No Req. - Costs 2 stat points. In most cases these are quite useless. Don’t even look at these as they are a waste of points.
Lightning Reflexes: +10 Dex/+10 Max Dex - Req. 50 Dex - Costs 12 stat points. This rune, and its smaller counterpart Agile are used to boost your starting dexterity. Usually used so that you can apply a bigger Dex rune in game.
Lucky: +5% to Defense rating - No Req. - Costs 8 stat points. This in most cases should be applied on ever single scout you make, scouts and most dex based characters out there are based around def and this gives you a whopping 5% def boost for only 8 stat points. A must have on any scout.
Military Training: +5 to Wear Armor, Light Skill - No Req. - Costs 4 stat points. This to, in most cases should be on ever scout you make, for the cost of only 4 stat points you get a boost of 5 to your LA skill. A great investment and I’m surprised that more don’t take this rune.
Precise: +5% to Attack rating - No Req. - Costs 8 stat points. This rune while useful in some cases really is overkill on a scout. Every thing about scouts is about finding and killing high def. targets, and while this is a great rune, really looses some of its effectiveness when your attack rating in most cases is usually plenty. Some vamp builds that want to have better atr on their drains without dumping extra trains into bloodcraft may want to consider this rune but for the most part neglect this one.
Proficiency Runes (Example Proficient with Axes, Proficient with Crossbows): Grants respective weapon skill - Costs 10 stat points. Don’t even look at these; you get all the weapons skills you need (even bow now that that kit was added) at creation.
Shopkeepers Apprentice: Grants Bargaining Skill - Req. 50 INT - Costs 10 stat points. This rune is damn near useless even when used correctly, here is why. What it does is give access to the bargaining focus, which lowers the cost on items from an npc. Sounds good right, well guess what, this has been broken since the game came out. It only reduces mark up and if the npc/shop owner set an items price manually as almost ever single person out there does, it reduces 0%. This is useful imo, only in the beginning of a server to get a tree seed and runemaster cheaper and that’s it.
Taught by Master Thief: -5 STR/-5 Max STR, +10 Dex/+10 Max Dex, -5 Con/ -5 Max Con - Req. 40 Dex - Costs 8 Stat points. This one is a bit different than the others, instead of just costing stat points to apply it steals stats from other stat categories. Str since you don’t really use it any way(though it does affect your dmg/def/atr slightly) is no big deal, however the hit to constitution in almost all cases make this a choice between do you need the extra dex, and is it worth the con hit to gain it. In most cases yes, but sometimes it’s not worth it. Especially if you plan on adding in a Dex rune in game later and need to raise your maximum to be able to apply it.
Tireless: +30 Stam/+20% stamina regeneration - Req. 50 con - Costs 10 stat points. This rune recently got a boost, and is now a great trait for consideration. Its hefty con requirement and cost still put it out of reach of most scouts, but if you can afford it, it’s a great idea to consider. However keep in mind that 9 times out of 10 you will be in def stance and wearing stamina regen jewelry so its really up to you as to weather you think this trait is worth it. I'd rather spend the points on the next rune in the list.
Tough as Nails: +200 Health/+20% Health regeneration - Req. 50 con - Costs 10 stat points. This rune recently got a boost, and is now a great trait for consideration. Its hefty con requirement and cost still put it out of reach of most scouts, but if you can afford it, it’s a great idea to consider. Note that in most cases putting 10 con on a rogue would never return 200 hp.
Tough Hide: +5 to Slashing/Piercing/Crushing resistance - No Req. - Costs 12 stat points. Works just like a spell resistance rune, meaning that when someone using melee type attacks hits you, u get hit for less than you would normally. While it could be useful, most scouts would rather spend points making sure they don’t get hit than tanking blows from the enemy. Let’s leave that to the tanks.
Warlords Page: -5 Dex/-5 Max Dex, +10 Con/+10 Max Con, -5 Spr/ -5 Max Spr - Req. 40 Con - Costs 8 Stat points. This one is a bit different than the others, instead of just costing stat points to apply it steals stats from other stat categories. Spirit, since you don’t really use it any way is no big deal, however the hit to Dexterity in almost all cases make this a choice between do you need the extra con, and is it worth the Dex hit to gain it. In most cases no, but sometimes it’s worth it. Especially if you plan on adding in a con rune in game later and need to raise your maximum to be able to apply it.
Wizards Apprentice: -5 Con/-5 Max Con, +10 Int/+10 Max Int, -5 Spr/ -5 Max Spr - Req. 40 Con - Costs 8 Stat points. This one is a bit different than the others, instead of just costing stat points to apply it steals stats from other stat categories. Spirit, since you don’t really use it any way is no big deal, however the hit to Constitution in almost all cases make this a choice between do you need the extra Int, and is it worth the Con hit to gain it. In most cases Yes, but sometimes it’s not worth it. Especially if you plan on adding in an Int rune in game later and need to raise your maximum to be able to apply it.
Focus/Skills:
Alrighty, you have selected your race, picked out what traits you want, and started leveling your scout. Hopefully you went to level 10-15 and got in a pl group because I tell you, solo grinding on these guys is slow as all get out once you leave Noob Island. So now what to train. Here is a quick run down on the different focuses/skills and what they do.
Weapon Focuses: Depending on what weapon you decided to roll with is going to depend on what weapon/weapon mastery you choose to train (obvious enough isn’t it). This will in turn raise your Attack rating (ATR), your Damage (Dmg), and to some respect your defense. In most cases people choose to "Gold" out these skills, in other words train it to the maximum you intelligence allows. Though in some cases, mainly high int builds this becomes un-cost effective (it can get to the point where it costs 3 training points to raise 1 % of the skill). The trick is finding a happy medium where both your dmg and atr is at a respectable level. In most cases (especially bow) the dmg increase will be minimal while you will notice dramatic increases of your atr. This is the price you pay for ranged dps and quick speed. Don’t worry though. I guarantee that there isn’t a class out there you can’t kill if you play your scout correctly. The following is a list of the weapon focus and weapon mastery needed to train for each weapon you might choose to use and mods for each type of weapon so that you know what to go shopping for.
Bow - Bow/Archery - Legendary of Slaughter/Peerless of Ruin- Horwathi Long Bow or Sapphire bow (can substitute sidhe bow)
Dagger - Dagger/Dagger Mastery - Warlords of Slaughter/Proc - Morloch’s of Ruin/Proc - 100%Dagger (ex. Fanged Dagger) or Betrayers or use Volgrim Auxiliary Daggers
Throwing Dagger - Dagger/Throwing Warlords of Slaughter/Proc - Morloch’s of Ruin/Proc - Throwing Spikes or Ring Blades
Unarmed - Unarmed/Unarmed Mastery Warlords of Slaughter/Proc - Morloch’s of Ruin/Proc - Doomfists/Khan'xhir or Rha'Khanakars/Doomfists
Sword - Sword/Sword Mastery/Blade Weaving(note regular swords are not dex based and I strongly advise against using them, however there are several good weapon powers on the sword mastery line and I recommend training up a little bit of the mastery to unlock these powers. - Warlords of Slaughter/Proc/Alacrity - Morloch’s of Ruin/Proc/Dispatch - Tlanarion Long/Short Sword or Darmaegil
All other weapons: Make for very poor choices for scouts, you can try them, but don’t say I didn’t warn you .
Defense Focuses: As a scout you get 2 focuses dedicated to improving your defense. One is your Light armor skill, the other is what is called a passive def skill, dodge, which all rogues get access to. Both are extremely important and will save your life more than any thing else you have.
Light Armor - This skill is required to wear light armor, scouts 2 different sets of Class only LA, Hunting and Guardian Leather. There is no real difference between the two save A. Looks, and B. Melee resistances. Guardian Leather can only be rolled with resources and costs mithril so unless you feel like farming it or coughing up the gold to guy the needed resources, I recommend sticking with Hunting leather. You are going to want to raise this skill at minimum to double trains, or in other words to where it costs 2 points to raise the skill 1%. Mods to look for on your armor should be Boosts to defense as the prefix and + to health/stam/dex/movement speed as the secondary. As a rogue you also get access to an awesome set of armor that cannot be rolled and must be farmed. The Volgrim Auxiliary Light Armor Set. The Hood, Sleeves, Pants, Gloves, and boots are all awesome, the chest how ever has inferior stats and should not be worn. In most cases the best set up you can go with is a Volgrim Hood, and Volgrim Leggings, 9 Defense/45hp chest and sleeve, 9 def/12 dex gloves and 9 def/Windlords. This set up should give you the best possible defense/hp boost/and dex boost available. In some cases, like on an elf or extremely low con builds +stam on the boots or gloves are necessary to make up for short comings in that department.
Dodge - One of the most overlooked, and at the same time most effective focuses we as rogues get is dodge. This is even more so now as recently they added the ability to dodge spells (though it’s a very much smaller chance than dodging a melee attack. This coupled with high defense makes you one hell of a hard target to hit. 90 trains in this focus is usually plenty though some like more. Also you get a spell that boosts your dodge % but at the same time lowers your attack speed, don’t be afraid to use this, it will save your life.
Class Focuses: As a scout you get access to 2 very useful focuses, 1 is athletics, the other is running. Both have a there benefits though sometimes they are not needed.
Athletics - Stamina, with out it you are dead, no questions asked, do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars, go directly to jail. For ever train in this focus you are granted a little more stamina. Constitution and your level are factored in but in most cases I recommend golding this skill. About the only scouts that should neglect this are vampires who will have enough stamina from the base amount due to the fact that their powers cost health instead.
Running - Well as you guessed, for every train that u place in this focus your run speed is increased slightly. Though after 85% in running the returns are diminishing, meaning that you don’t get as much per % as the ones prior. You can quite frankly make a speed demon that can reach the run speed cap. I do not recommend training this skill as your base runspeed+base+running+your run buff should be plenty and you can use the trains somewhere else to a much greater benefit.
Racial Focuses/Skills:
Bloodcraft - Vampires are a unique race in that no matter what class/profession they choose they all have access to the bloodcraft line. This focus affects the dmg/atr on their player and npc health drains and certain % is required to unlock some of the skills. Basically take enough in this focus to either unlock the spells you need or have the amount of atr on your drains that you are looking for. Remember though that you can style cast the drains and with bow styles that’s a 100% atr boost.(style casting is pressing down a weapon style then casting a spell, which gives your spell the same atr boost that your weapon attack is granted). Most only take it to 80% to unlock the final spell on there respective vampire discipline rune (summons on belgosh and passwall on Strigoi). And here is a list of skills that you can train just by being a vampire. Note all vampire abilities can only be JM’d (20 trains.)
The Lesser Kiss- "Single Target Non-Player Health Drain"
This skill when trained allows you to transfer health from a NPC that you have targeted to yourself. It’s DMG and ATR like any other spell is based of its focus, which in this case is Bloodcraft. Its usefulness outside of leveling or discipline hunting is limited though if you can lure an enemy near a pack of mobs you can use this as an extra source of healing by draining a NPC every time it comes up. Most neglect to train this skill or refine it once they are done leveling how ever.
Vampire's Kiss- "Single Target Player-Only Health Drain"
This skill when works exactly like The Lesser Kiss with the exception that you can only use it against another player. Again it’s DMG and ATR is based off the Bloodcraft focus. I strongly recommend JM'ing this skill as it is an awesome source of additional dmg and at the same time heals you for the amount of DMG done.
Dark Fortitude- "Personal Combat Fortitude"
This skill places a Dmg Absorber like effect on you. It, like all fortitudes, limits dmg done based off your total amount of hp's, the dmg done by the blow, and the level at which you have this skill trained. This is by far the best Melee fortitude available to you as a scout and I strongly urge you to JM this skill. This particular fortitude covers all forms of melee dmg done. Note that fast attack low dmg weapons, like UA and Dagger can very easily get under your "DMG CAP" that is the minimum needed to not be effected by a fortitude and should be approached with caution. This spell can only be removed by a nightstalker or by someone placing another type of dmg absorber onto you.
All Powers Cost Health -
More so a effect than a skill, this ability alone is the reason most choose to go vampire over another race for a scout. As with your drains you can quite literally cast weapon styles/powers forever unlike other races that have got to watch their stamina pools constantly. This gives vampires the edge in most situations and makes them quite a formidable adversary. Note that while your powers may only cost health, attacking and movement still cost stamina and eventually you too will run out, but at a much slower rate than other scouts.
Scout Class Skills:
Detect Hidden - "Personal Detect Invisibility"
This spell is by far the class defining spell of the scout class. At GM (40 trains) you can see any stealthed character in the game. This above all of your other available skills must be GM'd.
Reveal - "Area of Effect Dispel Invisibility"
This spell is granted after you have placed 10 trains into Detect Hidden. What it basically does is when cast anyone within range, including yourself, is dispel their invisibility "effect"(effects are represented by the little symbols at the top left of your screen, including buffs and debuffs). While it is useful I can count the number of times I have used this on one hand. Its a much better idea to put a bleed from one of your weapon powers onto your target as then he cannot restealth until the bleed is gone. But if you find yourself surrounded by say, a bunch of thieves, this could be used to ensure they cant get a backstab off on you, as they must be in sneak to do so.
Camouflage - "Single Target Invisibility"
What this spell does is basically place the "Hide" effect onto one target. If they move or cast anything they are revealed. Its use is in most cases limited to hiding your buffbot so that any passerby cant see them. Most if they train this place only one train in it, and I recommend doing the same.
Pathfinding - "Group Movement Buff Chant"
Another of your class defining spells. This spell should be GM'd on every scout. At GM, this spell gives not only you, but your entire group (provided they are in range) a 50% increase to run speed. A important thing to note, as soon as you enter combat, i.e. attack someone with a melee attack, the effect is dispelled. The chant is still running and you can do one of two things to get it back, get out of combat and wait for it to refresh(which it does every 20 seconds) or cast it again. Be aware that every time you cast this it costs 40 stam, so be aware of this if you are low on stam and trying to get away from a enemy.
Rapid Shot - "Personal Attack Speed Buff"
This spell can only be used when you have a bow equipped (sorry dagger/throwing/blade weaver/unarmed scouts). It is simply a weapon alacrity buff that allows you to attack 40% faster than you normally could. This is a very nice spell to have if you plan on spending long times solo away from a priest, however if you have constant access to a priest bot then its kind of a point sink and I recommend using the trains somewhere else. Unequiping your bow (including using a siege bow) and entering into a wereform will dispel this effect.
Precision - "Personal Weapon Power Buff"
This spell can only be used when you have a bow equipped (sorry dagger/throwing/blade weaver/unarmed scouts). This too I feel in almost all cases is a must have in your arsenal. At GM this spell gives you a extra 230 attack rating to not only your Bow attacks but as long as you have your bow equipped it places this extra attack rating onto any spells you have as well, i.e. vampire drains. 230 attack rating for only 40 trains is about the best return you could ever hope for and I recommend that ever single bow scout out their take this. Unequiping your bow (including using a siege bow) and entering into a wereform will dispel this effect.
Hunt Foe - "Improved Track"
This spell is granted at GM once you reach level 15. What this does when cast is, open a window with the name of every character that is within range. Now in order to actively track someone you need to select a name and click the little check mark at the bottom. Be aware that pretty much everything breaks this arrow that it gives you, including stealthing, casting your run buff and detect hidden, so have all these cast before you start to track. Also if they move out of range, log out or cast immunity to tracking of the Saboteur, you will not be able to get a arrow on them and will have to try again.
Hunt Prey - "NPC Track"
Works exactly like the player track except that it only will list humanoid NPC’s (non player characters). Its use is generally limited to tracking to a Discipline Dropper, provided that it is of the required monster type. All in all pretty much useless.
Rogue Skills: These spells and powers you get simply by being a rogue, the only thing that changes once you promote is the level they are granted at(assuming they are not a trainable skill).
Evasion - "Dodge Chance Buff"
This spell is by far one of the greatest in your bag of tricks. When pressed, for the duration of the spell, your chance to dodge melee and spell attacks is boosted by 62%. The price for this is that your attacks are slowed by 40%. But believe me, when you find you need this spell, the cost is more than worth it. It is granted at level 25 for scouts and is unlocked once you have trained dodge to at least 26% and are lvl10.
Hide - "Personal Invisibility"
This is the first of your invisibility buffs. It is granted at once you reach level 2 with 10 trains already in it. This spell while faster casting is generally used less as you cannot move from the spot you casted it with out breaking stealth. The great thing about this spell is, should you choose to GM it, is that it is instant cast, meaning that as soon as you cast it you are instantly stealthed. Perfect for a quick getaway. Most people either train it to 18 trains which is the requirement for sneak or gm this spell.
Sneak - "Personal Invisibility"
This spell is unlocked once you have trained hide to at least 18 trains. This is the spell that you will be using far more than any other spell you have. When cast it allows you to move around in stealth. Depending on how high you have trained it there is a movement speed penalty (hey to move unseen takes care) so defiantly gm this spell so that you are affected the least by this. Be aware that until you have trained at least 21 trains in either hide or sneak that any shade, anyone wearing jewelry with the see invisible mod, or anyone who has witch sight applied can see you. So always at least train 21 trains into sneak. Though I am going to say always GM this spell.
Sprint - "Personal Movement Buff"
This is a stackable run speed buff that lasts for 20 seconds, it is granted at GM for all classes and applies a 60% movement buff on you for its duration. It costs 25 stam so be aware of this before you cast if you are low on stam though, in a pinch it is quite useful to get the hell out of harms way.
Reveal Thyself - "Personal Dispel Invisibility"
This spell is a new addition. It basically allows you to come out of stealth with out casting a more costly spell/power. It cost no stam and there for is a preferred method of coming out of stealth.
Defensive Stance - "Defensive Stance"
This, as with all of your stances, is granted once you reach level 15. This is the stance that you will basically be living in. It is granted at GM. How it modifies you is this. It raises your defense by 25% while slowing your attack 15% and lowering your dmg by 10%. It also places a 10% movement penalty on you but increases your stamina recovery rate by 35%. By far the best stance a scout gets.
Offensive Stance - "Offensive Stance"
This stance you will very rarely if ever use. It is granted at 15 trains and is untrainable. It lowers your defense by 15%, increases your attack rating by 6% and increases your attack speed by 15%. Pretty crappy, eh, this is the price for being a rogue.
Precise Stance - "Precise Stance"
This stance is also very rarely used. Its granted at GM. Its only modifications are that it raises your attack rating by 35% and lowers your dmg by 25%. As a scout there is no reason you should ever need to use this stance as in almost all cases your atr should be plenty to hit every single opponent you come across.
Disciplines:
In addition to the basic skills that being a rogue and scout allow you to train you can also choose certain disciplines to choose from. In order to be able to apply and use these skills you must either hunt down, purchase or trade for these Discipline Runes. I'll now list all the available Disciplines for the scout class and a quick run down on what each give.
Note that you have to be at minimum LVL 20 to apply a Disc, and that even then most spells will be quite expensive to train until you reach higher levels. In almost all cases you can only train Discipline spells to JM (20 trains) though there are a few that can be GM'd.
Artillerist - Masters of Siege Craft
This Discipline is based around buffing and commanding Siege Engines during banes. It has several very useful spells and while I would recommend in most cases leaving this rune for a bot, should you choose this Disc, here is what you can train on it. Note that only one of these buffs can be on any one Siege Engine at a time.
Batten Down - "Defense Buff for Siege Engines"
This gives each siege engine you cast it on, a increase to Defense and several Spell and Melee resistances. I'll not list them all as the list is pretty big but just note that most neglect training this spell as they cannot have this and the Spell "Heavy Volley" on at the same time.
Command Siege Engine - Takes Command of a friendly Siege engine
This spell allows you to take a siege engine as a "pet". You can only have one siege engine commanded at a time and stealthing, dying or moving to far away can make you loose your command of the siege engine. Note that only Siege engines placed by your nation are available for you to command. This spell requires no trains.
Field Repairs - "Regeneration Buff for Siege Engines"
This spell greatly increases the Health Recovery rate of a siege engine while lowering the dmg dealt. At 20 trains in this spell the Health regen rate is increased by 2500% while the dmg is reduced by 40%. A great thing to cast on a treb if its about to go down, as if it does die, you have to wait 15 minutes for it to be respawned.
Heavy Volley - "Attack Speed Buff for Siege Engines"
By far the most trained spell on this Disc. This spell at gm increases the dmg by 60% and the atr by 1500 of any siege engine you cast it on.
Leaden Rig - "Magic Defense Buff for Siege Engines"
Like Batten Down this buffs a siege engine in the defensive manner, allowing it to take more dmg before it is destroyed. Again I recommend not training this buff and sticking to field repairs and heavy volley instead.
Belgosch - Chosen Of Oblivion
This Disc. is one of two Vampire only available to the Scout/Rogue Class. One of the biggest benefits to this rune is it allows summons to a non healer class. When this rune was first introduced it granted access to a 2nd offensive drain that could be used on both players and mobs that had a much shorter recast than the vampire racial drains. This drain however has since been limited to mages only and because of this almost all rogues out there now take Strigoi instead. Though if you are looking for a rune that would help your Group/Guild/Nation in addition to your self, a fast moving stealthing summoner should never be underestimated. Here is what it grants you.
Bloodgift - "Single Target Health Transfer"
This skill basically allows you to transfer health from you self to another player. Prior to the Belgosh Nerf at GM it used to be at a 150% allowing you to basically heal yourself. It has since been fixed and now at gm it transfers 100% only and is no longer castable onto yourself. If you plan on running with little to no healer classes I might recommend taking this skill but for the most part neglect this one as it damages you in order to heal another and most vampire rogues simply don’t have the health pool to afford this. Req. 40% bloodcraft.
Unnatural Fortitude - "Personal Combat and Elemental Fortitude"
This skill places a Dmg Absorber like effect on you. It, like all fortitudes, limits dmg done based off your total amount of hp's, the dmg done by the blow, and the level at which you have this skill trained. This particular fortitude is quite less powerful than the other fortitudes available to you as it only covers the dmg type of cold, crushing, lightening and poison. While if you are fighting a druid, huntress, fury or channeler this could come in useful I would say to neglect training this and instead save points for something else. This spell can only be removed by a nightstalker or by someone placing another type of dmg absorber onto you.
Summon - "Single Target Summon"
By far the greatest benefit of the Belgosh rune is this power alone. No other race/class combo outside the Healer profession has access to summons. So many people underestimate the power of a fast moving, stealthing summoner. With this skill you can teleport inside a city and start a summons chain, run quickly to a mine, bane, etc. As you can see a very useful skill. It is granted at 1 train (and is untrainable) once you have 80% in bloodcraft. If you do go belgosh you must take you bloodcraft to 80% to unlock this skill. Note that as it is a lvl1 summons the cast time, time between accepting it and being summoned, and recast are vastly greater than a healers summons.
Black Mask - Emissary of Death
This Discipline is a very useful disc, though more so to unarmed, dagger and Blade Weaver Scouts. It unlocks 2 very useful skills, Passwall (teleportation), and Backstab (a sneak attack that does massive amounts of dmg). It also grants Dagger and Dagger mastery, which since we get this just for being a Scout isn’t that big of deal. More on BS and Passwall.
Passwall - "Personal Teleportation"
This skill is granted upon application of the Disc. Rune. You must be in hide to use it and it does reveal you. Its usefulness is quite underestimated as well. You can use it to get out of a tight spot, get inside a locked city (assuming they do not have a no teleportation spire active), and use it to get outside a locked city faster then the stuck command. As you play your scout you will get a feel for when this is necessary and be glad on many occasions that you have this skill.
Backstab - "Sneak Attack!"
This skill also must be used from stealth, however in this case it must be from Sneak. While many say that this skill is broken and doesn’t work as it should, when it lands it dramatically increases your dmg done for that particular strike. It is used just like any other weapon power and applies the following effects at JM: Increases your attack rating by 80%, Adds a additional 240 Dmg to your normal DMG done, Bypasses your targets passive defense (block, dodge, parry). This can also be used with the skill find weakness off of the Blade weaver rune and if timed right you can perform a Find Weakness Backstab that does a considerable amount of dmg to your opponent. I'll cover more on that in the tips and tricks Section. Note that the part of this skill that is considered broken is the ignore passive def part. It is possible that you could miss, be blocked, dodged or parried. It sucks but is most likely never going to be fixed. I still recommend this skill for those using UA, Dagger, and BW swords as it helps immensely when it does land. There is nothing that can compare to backstabbing a sitting stealther who thinks he is safe.
Blade Weaver - The Sword Dancer
This Disc. is available only to the Elven Race, and should you choose to make a elf scout, no matter which weapon you choose I strongly recommend you take this rune. The main reason is it gives you access to a spell called Find Weakness, which lowers your targets melee resistances for a short duration, allowing you to do considerable more dmg than you normally would. It also allows you access to the Blade Weaving swords, known as T. Blades for short, and, as these are the only Dexterity based swords available to scouts is the only viable choice for Sword using scouts. It also unlocks several useful weapon powers for swords (though you must have Tblades equipped to use them) including a stun, power block, def debuff and more. Most people underestimate the amount of dmg BW scouts can dish out and it is a lot of fun to talk smack in the /Glo channel about how you just owned someone with a "Gimp Elf Scout". Note as most elven scouts have considerably less con you will need to really watch your stamina on these guys. Note: Using Tblades with alacrity mods quickens the speed at which your stamina will run out. Here is a list of trainable powers that equipping this rune allows you to train:
Blade Dance - "Area of Effect Slashing Damage (0 range)"
This skill when trained grants you a point blank area of effect attack. It is generally used for non scout classes to reveal stealthers, and since you have access to Detect Hidden its usefulness is pretty much nullified. 1 train in this skill, should you choose to take it is sufficient.
Feint - "Personal Attack Buff"
This skill when JM'd gives you a 40% boost to your attack rating at the cost of a 24% decrease to your attack speed and a 50% decrease to your DMG done by Spells/Powers/Melee Attacks. Id recommend using this only if you have no other way of reaching enough atr to hit someone as it hurts your dps(DMG per Second) a lot.
Find Weakness - "Single Target Melee Resistance Debuff"
This skill is by far the best available on this Disc. At JM it reduces your selected targets Crushing/Piercing/Slashing Resistance by 25 and lasts for 30 seconds. It can be used no matter what weapon you are using and for its duration allows you to dramatically increase your DMG output. Used in tandem with Backstab off of the Black Mask rune you can perform what’s know as a Find Weakness Backstab which does a massive amount of DMG to your opponent. I will cover more on how to do this in the Tips/Tricks Section.
Riposte - "Personal Damage Shield"
This skill at JM places a 30 Slashing DMG shield around you so that each time you are hit by a opponent they take 30 Slashing DMG (assuming they have no slashing resistance). You can increase the DMG done by this by exposing them to Slashing DMG and Find Weakness. However, I do not recommend this spell as it Reduces your Def by 15% and in order to be effective they have to hit you. As a elf rogue you simply don’t have enough HP to take the any significant number of hits.
Bounty Hunter - The Hunter of Men
This Disc.'s usefulness for the most part is limited to non ranged scouts. It grants a Detect Hidden that is not trainable to GM, A low level Track, and more importantly a trainable snare. For non ranged scouts this snare is almost always a necessity as in order to kill someone you have to catch them. I will only cover the Snare as the other two powers are useless for a scout.
Trip - "Single Target Snare"
This skill at JM places a 40% Movement Speed Debuff on a target. This combined with your inherent running speed and run buff should allow you to catch all but the fastest (Huntresses/Centaurs) characters. Be aware that that once you have trained this to 5 trains or higher it will also remove the "Flight" effect from non-natural flyers. Its a good idea to cast this on a target as soon as you come out of stealth to keep them in your range.
Gladiator- The Lords of the Arena
This highly useful rune is almost always a must have for scouts. Once applied it grants a GM heal/Health recovery buff, and as all GM heals remove bleeds you can see why almost every Scout takes this rune. It has a few trainable powers but as they lower your defense most neglect to train them. I'll go over them quickly but like I said I recommend not training them. This rune is not available for Vampires.
Resist Pain - "Personal Melee Resistance Buff"
This skill at JM increases your Crushing/Slashing/Piercing Resistances by 10, meaning that anyone attacking you with a weapon does less DMG. Nice spell but usually u just don’t have the trains for it, and as a defensive toon you would rather not get hit, making it loose its effectiveness.
Resist Pain - "Personal Attack Buff"
This skill at JM increases your Attack Rating by 140 at the cost of 140 defense. As you can see for a defensive toon the return isn’t worth the cost.
Treat Wounds - "Personal Melee Resistance Buff"
This skill is granted at GM and is a small heal and 100% health recovery buff. And as all GM heals remove bleeds you can see why this is a must have. While it is on a timer (meaning there is a cool down period between uses) being able to remove bleeds on yourself is a awesome ability that you can never not appreciate.
Huntsman- Master of the Chase
This rune, while once a lot more useful do to the vast number of wereform rogues out there, has seen a decline in usefulness since the vampires have hit the scene. It grants a low level track, a trainable pet, and Skin the Beast which dispels a targets wereform. I only recommend you take this rune if you find yourself facing a lot of enemies that are using wereforms.
Prospector
This rune allows you to claim mines. One of the skills is trainable but since they work at the level they are granted, most neglect to train them in order to save points.
Prospecting Stance -
In order to place a successful claim on a mine, you must first enter this stance. While in this stance your Def, Movement Rate, Atr are significantly reduced. You also are unable to fly or go invisible or be in any kind of immunity (i.e. bard immunity chant). This power can be trained but, like I previously stated, most choose not to.
Claim Mine -
This power must be cast while in prospecting stance. To use this simply go into prospecting stance and target a destroyed mine tower that is active. Once the cast has finished your guild will have a claim on the mine. Any attack of any kind will interrupt your claim so be sure all enemies are dead or out of range when casting this spell. Also logging out before the mine window closes will sometimes cause your claim to be lost. You also cannot cast this spell on a mine if your nation/guild holds the maximum number of mines allowed for there tree rank.
Rat Catcher - Vermin Slayer
This Rune is barely worth covering, it grants access to a trainable pet equally as poor as the huntsman pet, a weapon proc that is only useable against Mobs, and a Single target health recovery debuff. The debuff is somewhat useful when placed on a enemy but as there is so many better options to take I recommend not giving this Disc a 2nd look. Note: the health recovery debuff can be useful when fighting high con/high health recovery targets, and when used in conjunction with the doomsayer health recovery debuff when trying to kill a epic mob.
Rune Caster - Maker and Unmaker
This rune gives access to a few powers though of which only the heal is really of use. If you get one of the Volgrim Hoods, which gives a extra 100 Mana and 25% mana regen, and have a priest give you Mana Regen Buff, you can quite literally out heal another scouts dmg. I have used this before on low con builds and has saved me when out of stam on several occasions. The other powers are a strength buff and spell resistance buffs. Since these are of very limited use to a scout, id only recommend training the heal, Nyth Rune. One point should be sufficient as the returns for points invested are very poor.
Saboteur - Wrecker of Engines
This is another discipline geared toward sieges. It gives the ability to shut off spires, disable siege engines and gives a personal track immunity. It also, when used in tandem with a Sapper, grants a personal teleport spell that works even through a no teleport spire. Last I checked though, this spell was still broken however, and therefore most simply ignore it.
Infiltrate - "Teleport Self"
This power can only be used after a Sapper has cast point the way in on you. Do to cast times, and the fact that the Sapper/Saboteur Combo seem to never work, most do not train this spell. Though hopefully someday they will get fixed.
Sabotage - "Spire Disable"
This spell allows you to temporarily shut off a active spire in a enemy city. Its duration is between 30 seconds and 2 minutes so plan accordingly when training this spell. This spell does work and is a awesome utility if you are able to get into a enemy stronghold.
Foul the Works - "Siege Engine Disable"
This spell works the same as sabotage but only on siege engines. Since it is a much better idea to simply destroy them, most do not train this spell.
With Catlike Tread- "Personal Untrackability"
This spell when cast gives you a temporary immunity to being tracked by other players. Most simply leave this spell at the level it is granted as even fully trained the duration is extremely short. Note: You will still show up on a enemies track screen though they will be unable to get a arrow on you. Also casting this does not make a enemy who has already got a arrow on you loose their arrow.
Skydancer -
This rune is Aracoix only. It has a impressive array of powers and if you do choose to go Aracoix for your scout, I would strongly suggest you take this rune. It also grants the throwing mastery but since you already get this as a scout, is no big deal.
Will of the Sky Dancer - "Personal Constitution Buff"
This spell at JM gives a +15 constitution buff. As 20 trains for 15 con is a very poor investment I recommend not placing more than one point in this power. This spell stacks with priest’s constitution buffs.
Talon Dance - "Personal Damage Buff"
This awesome spell at JM gives a 25% increase to your DMG dealt. This is the only dmg buff available to a scout and I strongly recommend that you JM this spell at all costs.
Dance of the Updrafts - "Personal Stamina Recovery Buff"
This spell at JM gives you a 50% increase to stamina recovery and reduces the cost of using your powers by 30%. Meaning that for each weapon style or power you use it costs 30% less stamina. Great benefit here, JM this spell.
Strigoi - Eaters of the Dead
This is the 2nd of the two vampire only runes available to rogues. This is by far the rune of choice for most vamp scouts out there. It gives access to a awesome spell that allows you to totally ignore any enemies’ passive defense (dodge, block, and parry) and gives access to a awesome fortitude that covers most spell dmg types out there.
Feral Fury - "Personal Passive Defense Nullifier"
This spell only requires one train to work, all additional trains only increase duration. What this does is while active allow you to totally bypass any kind of passive defense that a target has, which includes all forms of block, dodge, and parry. Always place at least 1 point in this skill.
Undead Fortitude - "Personal Combat and Elemental Fortitude"
This skill places a Dmg Absorber like effect on you. It, like all fortitudes, limits dmg done based off your total amount of hp's, the dmg done by the blow, and the level at which you have this skill trained. This particular fortitude covers any dmg type that isn’t a melee attack or fire or holy dmg. This spell can only be removed by a nightstalker or by someone placing another type of dmg absorber onto you.
Passwall - "Personal Teleportation"
This skill requires 80% in you bloodcraft focus. You must be in hide to use it and it does reveal you. Its usefulness is quite underestimated as well. You can use it to get out of a tight spot, get inside a locked city (assuming they do not have a no teleportation spire active), and use it to get outside a locked city faster then the stuck command. As you play your scout you will get a feel for when this is necessary and be glad on many occasions that you have this skill.
Sundancer - the Dervishes of the Irekei
This rune is Irekei only. It grants both unarmed and unarmed mastery and the ability to duel wield, though since you are a rogue you get all this anyway. It also grants several very useful weapon powers including additional stuns/powerblocks, a atr debuff, def debuff, and a bleed. It also has a trainable attack speed buff and a single target fire resistance buff. This is a must have for any Irekei unarmed scouts and why going any other race for unarmed scout is not recommended.
Traveler - Walker Between Worlds
This Disc. grants access to several powers that allow you to operate runegates. Most people generally take this on a buffbot/summoner on a second account, but if you don’t have access to that and do a lot of solo work you might want to consider this rune. Each of the powers requires only 5 trains to operate. Depending on which map set you play on can also determine which gates you need to train. At minimum though, if you have a extra rune slot putting 5 points into recall to runegate gives you a personal recall to runegate which can help get you out of a tight spot.
Undead Hunter - Stalker of the Dark
This runes usefulness is generally limited to the trainable weapon proc that it gives access to. It also grants a NPC track for undead mobs, a single target dispel disease, a single target cold resistance buff, and a single target unholy resistance debuff. Again this is a rune that is generally taken on a Buffbot but if you don’t have access to one and plan to use procing weapons I strongly recommend taking this rune and training the Consecrate Weapon power so that you can Proc your own weapon.
Wererat - Sulker in Darkness
This is the only available wereform disc available to the Scout class. It grants access to 2 different wereforms and grants weapon powers that are useable only while in wereform. The weapon powers are very useful however, they include a Defense debuff, and Dmg debuff and a Expose to piercing. Also the defense debuff has a 100% atr and 100% dmg buff modifier added to it so that when you use this you do a greatly increased amount of dmg on that strike. It also grants a group dmg buff, and area of effect disease (which reduces stamina recovery for those affected). Note: you cannot use any powers in form other than track, stealth, and weapon powers without breaking your form. It also dispels your personal alacrity and precision buffs.
Rat Shape - "Personal Rat Transformation"
This skill transforms you into a rat shape and grants a small run buff, stam regen buff and dexterity buff. JM this spell
Skree'ekt Shape - "Personal Teleportation"
This skill transforms you into a wererat and grants a dex, str, and con buff, JM this spell as well.
Plague Jaws - "Area of Effect Disease"
This skill places a Disease effect on those around you not in group. Most put 1 point if any in this skill as its so easily dispelled and usefulness is limited.
Teeth of the Swarm - "Group Damage Buff"
This skill at JM is a 30% group dmg buff that stacks with other dmg buffs. It only lasts 45 seconds but during that time you and your group will be doing a greatly increased amount of dmg, especially if you have a bard or crusader running there group dmg chant as well. However since it requires trains into the focus Way of the Rat and has a long recast most scouts don’t train this.
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