Scout is the youngest brother from a pack of eight siblings who had learned to scrap early in his life, though he had lacked speed to close the gap against his older competition...
So, determined to be the strongest running man alive, Scout learned to move at breakneck speeds, all the time, everywhere, all at once, until he would finally champion over his home street to finally become the Mad Dog of Boston!
Gameplay
Overview
Scout is a glass cannon through and through, with his massive grounded speed, aerial mix-ups and burst damage at short ranges leading him to be an absolute force to be reckoned with in close combat.
Scattergun: His primary weapon has very potent close-range output, especially since his overall speed and improved damage scaling lets him approach his competition with ease to land clean meatshots at lightning pace.
Footsies: Scout easily has the best footsies in the game, which paired with his unique ability to air jump, lets him survive interactions that would otherwise be fatal for a majority of the cast. Mastery of his core mobility is key to succeed with him!
Attributes
Speed
Health
Units per Second
Percentage
Maximum
Overheal
400Hu
133%
125HP
185HP
Air Jump: Scout has the ability to jump in the air, which can be insanely useful when trying to move in and out of a fight. This can also be applied to mix-up his movement even further, escape juggles, and gain some height to land on platforms that would normally be unattainable by default.
Double Capture: Unlike the rest of the cast, Scout is capable of capturing objectives at twice the speed of a regular class. In a pinch, this can be used to pressure objectives and even bait opponents out of a favourable position.
Overview
Scout is a glass cannon that can pick and pressure targets from up-front thanks to his breakneck mobility and burst damage.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Top-1 Speed: His speed stat far surpasses the rest of the cast, which means that without a powerful movement option to catch up, a Scout is free to essentially pick his fights whenever he sees it fit.
Close-Range Burst: His scattergun is alright for peppering, but its damage output when getting at point blank is simply unparalleled, as the only class that can rival him in those regards is Heavy, a character who is notoriously much slower than him to make up for it.
Mix-Up Master: His strong array of unlocks that lets him adjust to a lot of scenarios, paired with his unique attributes in air jumping and double capping means that the Boston kid will always make you think twice when played appropriately.
Low Durability: Scout's durability is the lowest of any combat-oriented class in the game overall, which means he quite literally lives and die by his movement. This can make him incredibly volatile when dealing against defensive positions.
Limited Range: While he still fares better in those regards than Spy and Pyro, having access to options that only excels from up-close means that the Scout loses a lot of his effectiveness when he is kept at bay by geometry checks or otherwise problematic matchups.
Sentry Weakness: Sentries invalidate most of the strengths that he has, which means that Engineers can effectively lock down entire parts of the map from the Scout, and therefore hard counter him in the longer run.
0.3125s (FAN / Soda Popper) 0.36s (Shortstop) 0.625s
50:1 (Shortstop) 30:1 25:1 (Back Scatter)
● Fires a hitscan pellet. Deals strong damage from up-close. ● Each shot has a toggleable spread. ● Two types of reloading exists for scatterguns: Standard and Sawed-Off. Standard scatterguns will reload the same way a shotgun would, while their sawed-off counterparts reload their entire clip all at once. ● No matter the unlock, scatterguns excel at dealing burst damage thanks to the excellent synergy they carry with Scout's movement speed, which makes them ideal for getting close range picks with high consistency.
Secondaries
Pistols
Gun Shot
M1
Damage
Reload
Firing Rate
Bullet Spread
Max Ramp-Up
Base
Max Fall-Off
26 (Winger) 22
17 (Winger) 15
9 (Winger) 8
1.005s
0.135s (Pocket Pistol) 0.15s
50:1
● Fires single shots at a decently quick firing rate. ● Useful for cleaning low health targets. ● Actually worse for mid-range combat than scatterguns due to their much weaker damage output, and thus in spite of having a tighter spread.
Throwables
Projectile Toss
M1
Damage
Cooldown
50+ (Guillotine)
5.1s (Guillotine) 20s (Mad Milk)
● Throws a projectile that passively recharges over time. ● The Guillotine works great for close-to-mid range interactions, while the Mad Milk can drastically ease up any interaction in the game thanks to the heal-on-hit effect it gives to any coated target in its splash range.
Drinkables
Drink Consumption
M1 / G
Frame Data
Cooldown
Startup
Endlag
Total
0.92s
0.28s
1.2s
30s
● Spends your secondary meter to gain an 8 second buff through a somewhat slow animation. ● Said buff can range from a flat damage boost to full-on invincibility (though the user cannot attack while under the effects of the latter). ● Being a taunt-type option, this move can only work if the user isn't airborne.
● Swings a bat that deals lesser damage, but has a faster firing rate. ● Awful melee for combat, though Scout's absurd mobility somewhat makes up for it by giving it at least some level of hit consistency.
Pitcher's Throw
M2
Damage
Cooldown
15+ (Wrap Assassin) 15 (Sandman)
10s (Sandman) 7.5s (Wrap Assassin)
● Throws a projectile that passively recharges over time. ● Decently useful for getting a bit of mid-range damage.
The Scattergun is incredibly consistent at dishing out burst damage from up-close thanks to its larger clip size and solid base attributes, which makes it by far the most popular primary for Scout.
Intuitive: This primary has no special quirk that would make it more difficult to get started with than the other scatterguns, and its stronger clip size shall make it much more lenient to use as well.
Well-Rounded: It has solid firepower at point blank, a consistent reload and larger clip that makes it well-suited for most situations.
Low Range: A problem that the Stock Scattergun shares with most of its unlocks is its lack of effective range, which means you will need to seriously close the gap with your opponent if picking targets is your priority.
The Force-A-Nature is a movement-based sidegrade that min-maxes burst damage as a trade-off for less consistent output. While it is somewhat risky to use, and definitely more matchup dependent than the average primary for Scout, it can however be a decent option to use in situations where its weaknesses can be afforded.
Free Knockback: The FAN can easily force people off the objective or into generally unfavourable spots, which has to be seriously considered given that Scout's defensive game, while strong, is also normally volatile.
Improved Movement: Self-inflicted knockback can be used to improve the user's speed and jumping capabilities on class that is already really good at it, which is always a benefit when you live or die by the footsies.
Low Range: Closing the gap is a must, especially when your strongest trait in knockback dealing is highly dependent of the amount of damage you can dispense, which is by itself reliant on range.
Highly Volatile: The FAN's strongest traits are also its biggest weaknesses, since your movement and positioning must be that much more deliberate if your goal is to actually win fights and make it out of here alive.
When weapon is active: Increase in push force taken from damage and airblast
Holds a 4-shot clip and reloads its entire clip at once. Alt-Fire to reach and shove someone!
The Shortstop serves as the dedicated mid-range primary for Scout. While its lacking burst output makes it an unpopular choice, this weapon still remains a sleeper pick that thrives in situations where you cannot afford to close the gap to properly compete.
Safety Range: Being the only primary in the Scout's arsenal to be able to compete at mid-range means that this option will let you play from a far safer distance than the usual.
Evasion Potential: Its increased push force can be used to damage surf with stronger potency, which can be useful in a pinch against some matchups.
Weakest Damage: While this weapon has a stronger firing rate and spread that makes it still decent damage-wise, it is however the only primary in the Scout's kit that has an effective damage penalty, which means you will be less adept at melting health than usual.
Weakest Reload: Its reload speed is abysmal, which means you will be punished the hardest for whiffing your shots, especially if you happen to be out of position.
Harder Tracking: The combination of a tighter spread paired with a highly punishing reload means that your aim must be on point to make the most out of this weapon!
When Hype is full, Alt-Fire to activate Hype mode for multiple air jumps. This weapon reloads its entire clip at once
The Soda Popper trades clip consistency for the best damage potential of any scattergun overall, on top of having access to meter-dependent jumps. Because of these factors, the Soda Popper is banned from most competitive formats, since this weapon truly excels at lower player counts, while remaining a consistent threat with higher numbers.
Chain Jumps: Using your meter means you suddenly have access to five times the amount of air jumps you should normally have, which is incredibly useful for most matchups since you basically get mix-ups for free.
Surprisingly Consistent: Unlike its forceful counterpart, the Soda Popper not only fires faster, but also sacrifices its knockback potency for better reloading, which makes it stronger at dealing long-term damage while remaining very potent for singular picks.
Low Range: Like most scatterguns in the Scout's kit, your range is weaker, which means you will need to seriously close the gap with your opponent if picking targets is your priority.
The Baby Face's Blaster is normally designed as the "speed devil" of the scatterguns, but somewhat falters due to its disproportionate risk for the reward it gives. It can be a fun knowledge check that can still perform semi-decently relative to the other unlocks, but is otherwise widely regarded as the weakest primary for Scout.
Speed Potential: Its maximum speed increase is actually very powerful, and can make the user a very difficult target to get its first hit against.
Weaker Clip: Its lesser clip size with no compensation in reload speed or damage output means that the user has not only fewer shots to spare, but also a stronger dependency to reloading.
Volatile Speed: Without meter, your speed is insufficient to effectively survive most interactions, which forces you to promptly deal damage to recoup. With a meter, you only need to take pebbles of damage to lose your advantage. Queue massive swings in speed, and suddenly, you have a weapon that is hard to adjust with, both in terms of aim and movement alike.
Footsies Reliance: One of your strongest perks in air jumps literally burns through your meter, which means you will need to play an absolutely on-point grounded game to maintain your velocity in the longer run.
Mini-crits targets when fired at their back from close range
-34% clip size
No random critical hits
20% less accurate
The Back Scatter shaves a bit of range and clip size for the ability to deal stronger backshots, all while having easier tracking in the process. All things considered, it's a pretty competent primary, especially for a roamer playstyle, though its loss of ammunition makes it a somewhat weaker option compared to its Stock counterpart.
Backstab Meatshot: Backshots can potentially one-tap light classes, and otherwise easily get rid of the majority of the cast, simply by having sharp positioning.
Easier Tracking: Its larger spread can actually be kind of a benefit, since it lets Scout get up-close and personal to his targets with higher consistency than the other options.
Low Range: A problem that the Stock Scattergun shares with most of its unlocks is its lack of effective range, which means you will need to seriously close the gap with your opponent if picking targets is your priority.
Weaker Clip: Its lesser clip size with no compensation in reload speed or damage output means that the user has not only fewer shots to spare, but also a stronger dependency to reloading.
The Pistol is a decent peppering option that can be used to finish or pressure with low commitment, which makes it a very reliable secondary.
Intuitive: This secondary has no special quirk, and is pretty pick-and-play thanks to its relative ease of use.
Consistent: A pistol can dish out alright damage thanks to its quick fire rate and reload speed, which makes it an ideal option to use when you need to clean up some frags.
Predictable: A standard Pistol has no additional utility whatsoever, and doesn't improves the Scout's overall movement or durability whatsoever, which means you get an option that's very straight-to-the-point, much unlike his other secondaries.
Low Range: Pistols lack in range, and works better when used as a finisher.
The Winger preserves some of the combat capabilities of the stock Pistol while giving better jumping potential. It may be a bit specialised, but it's otherwise a very solid sidegrade if you don't mind shaving a bit of consistency for stronger mobility.
Stronger Jump: You effectively get the height of two jumps and a half when you deploy this weapon to initiate a double jump, which can be very useful when you need to reach taller heights, or otherwise mix your movement for a bit.
Consistent: A pistol can dish out alright damage thanks to its quick fire rate and reload speed, which makes it an ideal option to use when you need to clean up some frags.
Less Consistent: While this weapon still remains okay for peppering due in part to its damage boost, its weaker clip size means that you will however get less mileage out of it in an actual battle than its regular counterpart.
Low Range: Pistols lack in range, and works better when used as a finisher.
The Pocket Pistol possesses all of the usual strengths of a pistol, and then some more. In essence, it's the best pistol in the game, and should be considered a must-pick in any format that doesn't ban it if quick firing rate is your thing!
Very Intuitive: This secondary is even easier to pick up than the Stock Pistol, which was already a highly intuitive weapon to use on its own!
Chip Healing: A full clip can let you gain up to fifth of your health pool, which is incredibly useful when you are supposed to be a squishy character by design!
Stronger Consistency: The improved firing rate more than makes up for its slightly decreased clip size, since your weapon can deal more damage with less effort than usual.
Effective Upgrade: Its combined attributes makes the Pocket Pistol the strongest of the pistols without a shadow of a doubt.
Somewhat Predictable: While a small health gain means that the Pocket Pistol is a bit less predictable than its stock variant, it should however still lack the powerful utilities that would be brought by most of the other secondaries, which still makes it easier to read in a fight.
Low Range: Pistols lack in range, and works better when used as a finisher.
Throw at your enemies to make them bleed! Long distance hits reduce recharge time
No random critical hits
A quick projectile that trades spammability for damage potential and range, the Flying Guillotine makes for an excellent combo projectile. Although it may be banned from certain formats due its kill potential, there is however no doubt that it is one of the strongest secondaries in the batter's kit.
Insane Cooldown: It has the fastest cooldown in the entire game by far, which means you can easily throw one guillotine, chain your opponent with another meatshot, only to then have another projectile ready to be thrown!
Good Range: Its effective range is much more competent than that of a pistol thanks to its travel range, speed and lack of damage fall-off!
Good Damage: A successful throw means you get both fifty points of damage on hit, and a nifty bleed effect that, when paired with good use of your primary, can easily put your competition to rest in a fell swoop.
Higher Skill Ceiling: Despite being an excellent weapon on paper, its practical power can only be fully tapped into by having both mastery of hitscan and projectile combat (as Scout will rely on both with this unlock), all while requiring more deliberate inputs and positioning to make sure your opponent has less of a chance to retaliate. In other words, anyone can caveman a Guillotine once or twice, but few can really get good with it.
Drink to become invulnerable for 8 seconds. Cannot attack during this time. Damage absorbed will slow you when the effect ends.
The Bonk! Atomic Punch is a utility drinkable that is primarily used to either bait damage, or escape from potential death situations. It may be niche, but its specialised strengths still makes it a surprisingly capable option when used in a pinch.
Sentry Bait: This drinkable is the only item in the Scout's arsenal that not only lets you cross through entire sentry nests, but also distract them with ease. Those traits can be very resourceful during coordinated pushes.
Easy Escape: Assuming you have the time to deal with the taunt startup of this item, you effectively have an option that lets you escape any losing battle for virtually no cost.
Utility Specialist: The Bonk! Atomic Punch has no offensive use (barred for team pushes), which means you will need to entirely rely on the rest of your kit to be effective.
While effect is active: Each attack mini-crits and sets Marked-For-Death for 5 seconds.
The Crit-a-Cola is a high risk-reward drinkable that turns Scout into the ultimate glass cannon. An insanely powerful option at lower player counts when used properly, but also paradoxically difficult to use in crowded lobbies, this item may be the embodiment of what should effectively turn a strong player into a hidden boss battle.
Devil Trigger: Having access to mini-crits on command is incredibly useful when your main goal as Scout is to get in and out of fights to pick key targets through burst damage, since this secondary lets you do just about that!
Spam Weakness: At higher player counts, being able to bob-and-weave as a Scout will become tougher, which means you will potentially die faster if you are using your Crit-a-Cola at inopportune moments.
Primary Reliance: You essentially rely on your ability to land meatshots to not only get your money's worth out of this secondary, but to also offset your newfound weakness!
Players heal 60% of the damage done to an enemy covered with milk. Can be used to extinguish fires.
The Mad Milk grants on-command splash healing with little to no effort. Very caveman in nature, this secondary is debatably the strongest overall in the Scout's kit, and shall only be used if you want to be toxic with your competition.
...Seriously though. Don't be that guy.
Free Healing: Whip this projectile at a problematic target or a crowd of people, and suddenly, you get easy heals that can easily turn the tides in your favour.
Fire Counter: This option can be used to extinguish you and/or teammates in a radius, which can be useful if you want to ruin a Pyro's day.
Unga Bunga: High projectile speed, travels in an arc, has a large splash radius, all while having debatably fast cooldown for its insane utility. Seriously, you can leave your brain off to the wayside with this one, because this secondary sure as hell won't punish you for playing like a caveman.
The Bat makes for an awful melee that is only marginally counterbalanced by the Scout's absurd movement speed. With plenty of stronger unlocks to choose from, there is no viable reason to use it over other options within the same slot.
No Weaknesses?: It technically lacks a listed weakness, though this doesn't say much when your damage output from melees is abysmal compared to the rest of the cast.
No Utility: The Bat doesn't bring anything of value to the Scout's overall playstyle, and cannot be used to therefore improve his overall effectiveness.
Weak Damage: Its effective damage output is weaker when compared to a standard melee (which are already mediocre by default), and it gets even worse when single hits deals the lowest out of all default melees in the game.
A joke counterpart to the stock melee, the Holy Mackerel is virtually just as bad as the Stock Bat, but at least carries the benefit of having some comedic value! Now, having a funny weapon won't help you win, but hey, killing someone with a fish is funny.
No Weaknesses?: It technically lacks a listed weakness, though this doesn't say much when your damage output from melees is abysmal compared to the rest of the cast.
Dead Ringer Coverage?: Hitting a Spy that used the Dead Ringer will count as if you solely hit him, instead of showing it as a death in the killfeed, which can be very marginally useful if you wish to spycheck... That is, if the Spy specifically used the Dead Ringer... And that is, if you somehow forgot to look at the currently living players on the upper part of your interface.
No Utility: The Mackerel doesn't bring anything of value to the Scout's overall playstyle, and cannot be used to therefore improve his overall effectiveness.
Weak Damage: Its effective damage output is weaker when compared to a standard melee (which are already mediocre by default), and it gets even worse when single hits deals the lowest out of all default melees in the game.
The Sandman makes the dangerous trade-off of losing some durability on an already frail class to gain a mediocre projectile instead. Can be cool for styling, but otherwise isn't worth equipping, as it is debatably even worse than the actual Bat.
Okay Projectile: While the Sandman's projectile is really not that good, it is still at least applicable, and will give your melee more offensive use than usual.
Glass Jaw: Your health is low enough that Soldiers can now one-shot you, while other classes can finish you off with a bit more leniency, which is something you want to absolutely avoid as Scout.
Weak Damage: Its effective damage output is weaker when compared to a standard melee (which are already mediocre by default), and it gets even worse when single hits deals the lowest out of all default melees in the game.
The Candy Cane is a stamina-based melee that absolutely tanks your potential for durability against key matchups. In Medieval, it can be fine, but it is by far the worst melee that Scout can equip in other rulesets due to its abysmal matchup coverage which, in turn, debatably makes it one of the single weakest weapons in the entire game.
Kill Medpack: Having the potential to regain a fifth of your health after a kill with any weapon in your arsenal can be fine, although the difference this property does possess in practice is heavily reliant on matchup.
Stolen Valor: Since Scout thrives out of unpredictable movement, and your ability to "drop" medpacks cannot be controlled (as it entirely relies on you doing your job to begin), it is not only likely that your packs cannot get picked up by you or a teammate during certain fights, but it is even more so likely that your opposition can steal your spoils of war with usually even greater value than what you would have gotten for your efforts.
Geneva Destruction: Two of your most important matchups in Soldier and Demoman can now one-shot you with ease, but additionally, fully upgraded rockets from sentries, and reflected explosives now becomes massive threats as well. This is a death sentence for a class like Scout.
Weak Damage: Its effective damage output is weaker when compared to a standard melee (which are already mediocre by default), and it gets even worse when single hits deals the lowest out of all default melees in the game.
The Boston Basher serves as the dedicated combat option for Scout, and is surprisingly decent at what it does thanks to the batter's velocity. If using your melee as a combo tool and building Übers is your sorta thing, I would seriously recommend this option!
Decent Damage: A single hit from this melee has the potential to deal 75 damage, which makes it much more capable of cleaning up targets as either a combo starter or finisher.
Über Building: This tool is the only one in the Scout's arsenal that can be used to receive self-damage on command, which can be very resourceful for building meter for your Medic, since lacking overheal leads to faster build of Übercharges.
Smarter Swinging: When used for combat, whiffing a hit can be detrimental, which means you have to be much more deliberate in your ability to land a swing to really make the most out of this melee's combo potential. In other words: Be smart, don't spam.
The Sun-on-a-Stick shaves some combat consistency to gain fire-related perks. It's not a stellar option, but if a Pyro somehow messes you up, or you instead want to chance an afterburn kill instead, this melee may not be all that bad, though its relative applicability is heavily matchup dependent.
Gimmick Synergy: If one your teammates happens to be a Pyro, you can sometimes get the opportunity to land easier frags without consuming ammo, which can be nice if the opportunity is somehow showing up.
Matchup Coverage: While Scout already has a good matchup against Pyro, the Sun-on-a-Stick can however grant you easier routing into medpacks, and generally makes for a decent quality of life for a fight that should already be in your favour.
Weaker Damage: Its core damage output is even lesser than that of the Bat, and only surpasses it by relying on an external teammate to do so, which makes this weapon usually bad for combat, as expected of most melees for Scout.
On Hit: One target at a time is Marked-For-Death, causing all damage taken to be mini-crits
-75% damage penalty
The Fan O'War is a debuff-style melee that is absolutely dreadful for melee combat, but carries long-term utility thanks to its marking potential. If you happen to lack the confidence required to pick a key target in a certain situation, using this melee to at least hinder them can make for a capable strategy.
Marking Potential: Forcing a target to receive mini-crit damage for fifteen seconds can be a very powerful trait to have, especially when they're meant to be a class with higher durability such as a Soldier or a Heavy.
Weaker Damage: Its first hit deals pebbles, while marked hits only deals about the same as the Sun-on-a-Stick, all while lacking the means to do more than that, which makes this weapon really poor for melee damage racking.
Kinda Redundant: Usually, landing two or three meatshots can get rid of your target faster than any sequence with the Fan O'War can let you do. This means that this melee works better as a support option, not a combo tool.
The Atomizer lightly improves mobility at almost no cost. This makes it an easy go-to for any Scout looking for a more conventional playstyle!
Dual Jumps: Being able to tap into two air jumps instead of one is always resourceful when your priority is to move around the map with ease to facilitate picks once you get to pick your fights!
Effective Upgrade: Its damage penalty barely makes a difference as bats are naturally weak for combat anyway, and its slower deploy speed simply requires its user to adjust their playstyle to be more deliberate, which means you practically have an additional air jump for virtually no cost.
Weak Damage: Its effective damage output is weaker compared to a standard melee (which are already mediocre by default), and it gets even worse when single hits deals the lowest out of all default melees in the game.
Alt-Fire: Launches a festive ornament that shatters causing bleed
-65% damage penalty
The Wrap Assassin trades insane amounts of melee damage for a projectile that is actually potent. It can be a good combo tool for ranged combat, since its lacking melee capabilities can easily be ignored by a class that reliably meatshots anyway.
Decent Projectile: Its bubble has a fast recharge and always deal bleed damage, which makes it much more consistent than the Sandman, all while boasting a much more manageable trade-off to compensate.
Weakest Damage: Its overall melee damage output is the weakest of all the bats, which means you will never rely on this option to deal with opponents at point blank (not that you should with most bats anyway).
Scout is a glass cannon that can pick and pressure targets from up-front thanks to his breakneck mobility and burst damage.
Scattergun
Force-A-Nature (FAN)
Shortstop
Soda Popper
Baby Face's Blaster (BFB)
Back Scatter
Pistol
Winger
Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol (Pocket Pistol)
Flying Guillotine
Bonk! Atomic Punch
Crit-a-Cola
Mad Milk
Bat
Holy Mackerel
Sandman
Candy Cane
Boston Basher
Sun-on-a-Stick
Fan O'War
Atomizer
Wrap Assassin
