General Scout Questions.

Comments

• Serdan Member Posts: 10

  May 2006

  Well, rougish and archer classes are not really group friendly in daoc. They are made mostly for soloers, though stealth groups are also there for a fair bit. Among all of them, Scout is in much better position, at least pve wise, because it can spec in shields and act as a blocker in exping groups. Still, for a new player you may have problems finding groups with it, which can make it harder to level.

  In modern RvR, Scouts are mostly snipers, with high level of Bow skill. Pretty decent chars, but not really required in or require group. Pure melee wise they are inferior to specialised classes, but if you can get couple of shots before close combat, you should be fine

  All in all, for a new player I would take smth more group oriented Scouts are fun, but for the first char it may be a bit harsh.
• RedRab Member UncommonPosts: 280

  May 2006

  I would have to agree. The stealth/archer classes are generally not for inexperienced players. They can be vetry frustrating for newer players and require a particular mentality and a lot of patience to play well. You certainly won't level as fast as most with an archer class unless you choose a hunter with a high spec in beastmastery and weapon, which are great PvE, or a melee specced ranger. It's harder for a scout to level quickly, especially solo, as they don't have the pet to hold aggro the hunter does and they don't put out the damage in melee the ranger can.
  
  Scouts are really pure snipers. They put out massive damage from long range. The longest range in the game and more damage with the bow than the hunter or ranger. The good scout tries not to get involved in melee at all.  The shield is an escape and distancing tool, the sword is mostly for looks, impressing the ladies/gents in the tavern and picking their teeth.
  
  

  “Hustlers of the world, there is one mark you cannot beat: the mark inside.”
  ― William S. Burroughs
  
• JulianDracos Member UncommonPosts: 1,528

  May 2006

  Any stealth classes are going to be hard to play if you are not familiar with the game.  None of the stealth classes really server a purpose in a PvE group.  You will just be a light tank doing minimal damage.  You might need to get a mob off of a caster now and then.  However, that role is better filled by many other classes.  You can do decent at soloing for XP.  Not great, but if you have a good bow and arrows you will be able to kill yellow/orange mobs for a bit and then rest until your endurance is back.  Leveling will get easier the higher level you are as an archer because of better equipment and a more rounded spec.
  
  Stealth classes shine in RvR situations.  Unless you like screaming at the game and writing nasty feedback to Mythic, I would suggest you avoid playing assassin classes if you want to RvR at level 50.  Things are balanced for them in the Battlegrounds, but once you are in NF, the joy of playing them is gone because of MoS.
  
  Archer classes are fun to play in the BG, but espically at lower levels, are likely to die more often than assassins.  Once you hit 50 is when you will start to dominate RvR.  Archers tend to group more often than assassins with none-stealth members, but it is still not that common.  Often you will group with multiple archers.  That way, even if someone could survive your bow shot, they won't survive the volley coming from your group mates. 
  
  Scouts are often speced as "snipers" but they can hold their own at melee.  What I mean by that is once you have MoS you can see assassins.  You can then shoot them with your bow at a distance before the assassin gets to you.  You can then sheild slam and procede to use positional styles to finish the assassin off.  Now without the bow damage (but without the assassin attacking from stealth), you might loose because the odds slightly favor the assassin.  Without getting off a shield slam, then you will most likely die.  Shield slam sucks unless you have purge2 to get rid of it. 
  
  
  
• Tuutob Member Posts: 607

  May 2006

  of the three ranged classes, whcih do you say can hold their own the best in melee? I know it may seem I am asking the wrong question for a ranged class, but a melee class will always charge you, so this is a useful thing to know.
  
  
• JulianDracos Member UncommonPosts: 1,528

  May 2006

  If a melee class charges you then you had better keep shooting with your bow or run away regardess of what archer class you are playing.  You do not have the hits or the armor to stand toe to toe with a tank.
  
  As for what one is better, it all depends on how you train.  You can train an archer to be "melee" but then you are not that good at a bow.  Hunter has a pet.  It is nice, but not that good for RvR.  You need to train it so high that you will suck at bow.  That leaves you with a Scout or a Ranger.  A scout has shield slam.  This is a very useful ability for getting away or simply stunning a taget long enough to kill him in melee.  However, I think the general consensus is that Ranger are the best at melee still.  You do not have shield slam, but you do have self buffs.  You can also dual weild.  If you train high in bow, then Ranger will probably be better off than the other two at melee. 
  
  DAOC makes you do trade offs.  Essentially the better you are at melee with any of the archer classes the worse you will be at bow and vice-versa.  You can compromise a bit and Rangers probably have the most room to compromise.