The Scout Specialization can guarantee you’ll always have the Advantage in Star Wars Zero Company. This guide covers ability mechanics, weapon choices, secondary specializations, and build tips.
Best Scout Build Overview
The Scout is a Support DPS Specialization designed to help farm up Advantage, then using it for taking out large chunks of health from a target.
- Best Weapons: Longarm Blaster and Blaster Rifle
- Best Mods: Targeting Scope
- Best Utilities: Targeting Visor and Auto Rangefinder
- Secondary Specialization: Scoundrel, Medic, or Gunslinger
- Recommended Talent: Cold Blooded or The Bigger They Are…
- Cross Training Priority: Focus Points and Critical Damage
Let’s dive deeper and explain why and how each of those recommendations work together and how to use the Medic Specialization to its max potential in various situations.
Scout Abilities and Mechanics
The Scout Specialization grants an Operator four abilities: Ambush, Combat Recon, Tactical Timing, and The Spotter.
Ambush (Ultimate)
Execute a well-timed surprise attack on an enemy. The more Advantage used in this attack, the greater the damage.
This ability consumes between 4 to 10 Advantage with each use for an attack with massive damage against a target. The more Advantage this ability consumes, the more damage it does.
You’ll want to use this against particularly durable enemies. Use this wisely though, and try to use it after other Operators have used crucial abilities that require Advantage. Max this ability second after Combat Recon.
This ability is treated like any other ranged attack, so your chance to hit is affected by range and cover. Using it against Spotted enemies will negate range penalties.
Combat Recon (Standard)
Assess threats in the target area, granting Advantage for each enemy in the assessment area.
Max this ability as soon as possible, its range increases with each tier. More range = more Advantage, more Advantage = more fun abilities. This is one of the most useful abilities in the entire game as it grants on-demand Advantage.
As you’ll often be using this on just about every turn, you’ll also be left with 2 AP to do other things. Choose your actions carefully after using Combat Recon.
This ability’s range is very similar to the Heavy’s Bulwark ability range. If you’re using a Heavy, you can get an idea of which enemies you can taunt when using Combat Recon
Tactical Timing (Passive)
Provides a 20% chance to gain +1 Advantage when this Operator defeats an enemy.
Each rank up increase this passive chance to gain Advantage by 20%. At max rank, defeating an enemy with the Scout will grant a 100% chance of granting Advantage. Doubling your Advantage is a nice tough, but upgrading Combat Recon and Ambush will take priority.
The Spotter (Passive)
When this Operator damages an enemy with their blaster, that enemy is Spotted.
This is a great ability to help ensure you land your next Ambush more easily after using a blaster attack. It’ll also help allies land their attacks on far away targets.
Recommended Weapons
The Scout works well with the Longarm Blaster and Blaster Rifle. The Longarm Blaster is better if you want a sniper, while the Blaster Rifle is if you want more of a skirmisher for mid to close range combat.
Longarm Blaster
As each shot consumes 2 AP, you’ll likely be spending your first turn getting into position. When in position, you’ll often find your actions in a turn will be limited to using Combat Recon and firing a shot.
While a bit challenging to manage AP without an Astromech, the Longarm Blaster is a great choice for the Scout due to its high Critical Hit Damage. Critically hitting on an Ambush is great, but dealing even more critical damage is better.
Blaster Rifle
The Blaster Rifle offers a bit more freedom with your action economy as the first shot per turn only costs 1 AP. You’ll want to use this over a Repeater due to its higher Critical Hit Damage. Once again, getting more critical damage on a critical Ambush is ideal for the Scout.
Recommended Weapon Mods and Utilities
As you can negate chance-to-hit penalties from range when Spotting an enemy, a Targeting Scope will be ideal to mitigate the effectiveness of an enemy’s cover. This will let you hit your shots and Ambushes more reliable on spotted targets in cover.
For Utilities, you’ll want a Targeting Visor and an Auto Rangefinder. The Targeting Visor helps you hit a target without the Spotted debuff, then allowing you to ensure your Ambush hits.
The Auto Rangefinder is useful for Spotting one particular target without the chance of missing as what may happen with a weapon attack. It’s good if you need your remaining 2 AP to use Combat Recon for Advantage, a self buff such as the Cold Blooded Talent, followed by an Ambush.
Best Secondary Specialization Pairings
The Scout is a Support DPS combo, so leaning into either DPS or Support works out really well. Some good pairings are the Scoundrel, Medic, and Gunslinger.
Scoundrel
The Scoundrel is another Support DPS and is a good choice if you’re not planning to use the Vicious Talent. Identify Weakness allows you to get a critical hit on a selected target, working well with Ambush. Additionally, the Scoundrel’s Instinct Passive lets you ignore up to 4 Defense points on more durable enemies.
Medic
A Scout/Medic Operator makes for the best support unit in Zero Company. While they may not attack as often, the ability to generate Advantage and heal allies on the same character is fantastic.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger will grant up to 15% Critical Chance with the Keen Eye passive, working well with either the Longarm Blaster or Blaster Rifle. The Gunslinger is a good fit because the Scout balances out its weaknesses.
The Gunslinger has the ability Quick Draw which gives the Operator a pistol that has a 25% increased Chance-To-Hit Range Penalty. If you’re hitting a Spotted target, this debuff is negated entirely.
This ability is good for dealing with Overwatch or Retaliation as it doesn’t trigger it, and killing an enemy with it restores 1 AP. Do note that this sidearm attack does not benefit from your weapon mods.
Recommended Talents
There are two Talents that work well with the Scout: Cold Blooded and The Bigger They Are… Though which one you choose will depend on your secondary specialization.
Cold Blooded
This should be your default talent unless you’re using the Scoundrel as a secondary specialization. Using this Talent for the stack of Vicious will make your next attack or Ambush critically hit. Be sure that your target is spotted and you’re using a Targeting Scope to get the best use out of this.
The Bigger They Are…
This is good with the Scoundrel as a secondary specialization. Elite and Boss enemies are going to have higher defense which the Scoundrel’s Instinct passive can mitigate. With the Scoundrel’s Identify Weakness ability, you can get a critical hit on a selected target for massive damage.
Cross Training Priority
Focus Points should be your main priority to max out Combat Recon and Ambush as soon as possible. The other options depend if you want your Scout to lean more towards DPS or Support.
For DPS, focus on Critical Damage followed by Critical Chance. For Support, First Movement and Critical Chance are good choices so you can reposition more easily.
