Scout guidance, please

Discussion in 'The Temple of Elemental Evil' started by MrPhil, Aug 14, 2023.

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  1. OLLY613

    OLLY613 Member

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    Hmm, i had a random thought. Because the scout has to move before getting the damage bonus. Does that mean if he takes shot on the run he could in theory shoot a ranged weapon twice to get the bonus twice? I am wondering if there is a good build there for that.

    The big thing about scouts is that bonus is great but 1 attack per round at late levels is not good enough.

    I did try the barbarian , scout multiclass with the charge feat that gives extra dmg which was fun.
     
  2. Nightcanon

    Nightcanon Garrulous Halfling

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    Bear in mind, this is 3.5Ed D&D, which is notorious for its poor balance between classes (amazingly, one of its designers once wrote an article bemoaning the fact that certain classes, like the wizard, had too many 'dead levels' where they got no new goodies, while 'well-designed' classes like the monk got a new toy at each level- bizarrely, he didn't think a new level of arcane spells every other level counted, and never mind that the monk's level 20 capstone is effectively 'feather fall [a level 1 spell] at will' ).
    Rant over, I think Scout is just one of those things classes that just isn't much good. +d6 to damage if you move 10' or more is useful as a 1-level dip (but less good than +d8 when you charge from the Powerful Charge feat) for someone like a Barbarian, but a 5-level dip in Scout to acquire the second d6 almost certainly isn't as good as 5 levels spent elsewhere. 5 levels of Rogue gets you 3d6 of sneak attack, 5 levels of wizard gets you 5d6 Fireballs, Enlarge Person, and, incidentally, Clairvoyance, which is far more scouty that actually being a Scout. The idea of a scout is cool, but if you want a stealthy character who does loads of extra damage by virtue of being stealthy, go pure Rogue and get a friend to give you Greater Invisibility, or Rogue/Swashbuckler +daring outlaw (and ditto), or Rogue/Assassin for the eventual ability to cast Greater Invisibility on yourself (I tend to use the Temple+ option to waive the alignment requirement for Assassins: in a world where NG Clerics can ask LG Wizards to teleport in, kill the bad guys with poison gases and disintegrates before they can react, and loot the corpses, I don't think that a Rogue with some limited thematic spellcasting is necessarily Evil).
    Some of the 'new' classes (prestige or otherwise) are fun challenges: access to some very good spells, but not all the good spells (Beguiler, Warmage), or access the all the spells, but with delayed advancement (Mystic Theurge, Ultimate Magus) are a way to make the game fresh if you usually play a Wizard with the same optimised spell list, but Scout is just pretty limited.
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2023
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  3. MrPhil

    MrPhil Member

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    I wondered if you'd found the trick, but unfortunately shot on the run explicitly allows only one shot.

    Given haste and iterative attack, my scout is much more effective staying put and firing several shots.
    The only time I've relied on the bonus damage for moving is against foes with high DR.
    As he goes up in levels, gains more attacks and a better weapon and equipment, I can't see that remaining a good option
     
  4. Nightcanon

    Nightcanon Garrulous Halfling

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    At the risk of boring on about this, I think unfortunately there is no trick available here: Scout is just a poorly-designed class that has been implemented faithfully in Temple+. In a PnP game I would look to tweak this either with a feat, or just straight-up allow Scouts to fire multiple shots on the move, but in the game as it stands archers are better off moving no more than a 5-foot step and getting off iterative attacks, and there are better ways of increasing your damage when doing so that are at best Scout-ambivalent: have an 18 strength and a compisite bow with additional elemental damage- available to a Scout, but don't need to be a Scout.
    Favoured Enemy: not available to a Scout, any Scout levels taken delay advancement.
    Sneak Attack: not available to a Scout, any Scout levels delay advancement.
     
  5. hammyh

    hammyh Established Member

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    You seem interested to try a scout. I'd say do it. ToEE is not that demanding.

    It's all about your goal. It parallels the fighter gripe - as fighter is pretty boring single-class, yet can be good in low magic due to feats (self-found, no magic team, etc.). Or can be cross classed for a few levels with good results.

    Scouts get skills and can sub for a rogue (even with cross-class OL).

    If min/maxing and heavy with crafting, haste, spells and so one, then ...ymmv.

    Fruella: I usually multi to a bard, but she might make an interesting scout. The cleaver returns and 3F/x scout has some potential (throwing, tripping). But if you want to craft her cleaver (never tried) I think you'd have to kill her, take it and craft, then give it back...potentially...

    Furnok could also be similar with dagger.
     
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  6. Endarire

    Endarire Ronald Rynnwrathi

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    Having played 3.5 tabletop with a Scout in the party (not mine), he focused on archery and moving enough to trigger Improved Skirmish while having enough Ranger for Swift Hunter.

    Scout is weak overall, and it takes tremendous optimization to make it worthwhile, but at that point it's largely non-Scout stuff that's helping you.
     
  7. MrPhil

    MrPhil Member

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    I do like the scout skill list.
    As a challenge, I made a party of classes that I don't normally use, so I included the scout. Jaroo has never seen so much business.

    I agree with you guys, the scout does seem to be objectively weaker than other options and requires some serious shenanigans such as anket of translocation or DC 40 tumble checks.

    Ah well, my guys have just dispatched big Z, so not too far left to go and I can retire the scout to the Welcome Wench and never look back.
     
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