Scouting is an important role and common action even for those not dedicated to the job. When valuable information is learned by an individual, properly relaying it to your teammates can make a huge impact on the flow of the map. The following guide will help you to understand key points in your duty and how to be as effective as possible.
Being Detailed
A proper scout will always give as much information as possible when communicating with their teammates. To determine what is important and what is irrelevant, consider the following:
- Is there a gate(s) or wall(s) being attacked?
- If yes to the previous question, what is it’s percentage?
- Roughly how many enemies can you spot? Exact numbers aren’t necessary but an error margin of 10 should be your absolute maximum with 5 being ideal. (15 – 20, 5 – 10, 20+/20 – 30)
- If nothing is being attacked, what direction are the enemies heading/where are they gathered?
- Are two of the offending servers in a fight?
- If yes to the previous question, try to determine which is gaining the upper hand. (Server X is fighting server Y, Server Y appears to be winning)
Frequent Updates
Don’t just leave your teammates hanging after you’ve given them info. Try to communicate real time events so that your commander and roamers are aware of map activity. Just remember not to go overboard, you don’t want to become spammy!
A good example with the previous points in mind would be:
“5 – 10 server X attacking Durios. Gate 50%.”
Time passes
“Durios gate 30%”
Time passes
“Durios gate going down, 5 – 10 server X in”
Similar real time info can be applied to a variety of different situations. Another example might be if two offending servers are in a fight. Updating /map (or teamspeak) with the events can be a great help, especially to any organized guilds on your map.
Example:
“Server X and server Y fighting by south SMC.”
Time passes
“Server X looks to be winning. Server Y moving south east.”
Siege And Defense Jockey
Scouting can be more than just relaying information to your teammates. If you’re really dedicated to the job, building and maintaining siege is another great thing to practice.
- Consider the common areas of a structure that will be attacked and with what kind of siege (eg. is this wall a favorite spot for the enemy to lay catapults or trebuchets?)
- Remember that walls are easy to bombard with AOE’s. Place defensive siege as far out of reach from harm as you can without making it unusable.
- Siege decays after 1 hour. Remember to revisit your siege to refresh it before the timer runs out, or to ask your teammates to refresh when they can.
- Try not avoid siege capping a structure! Building too much siege within one area can cause a limit to be reached which will prevent further siege from being placed. It’s good to have room for additional siege in case of an unexpected emergency!
- Try to keep supplies in a tower above 100 unless it’s about to be breached. An empty tower is a dead tower!
Here are a variety of examples with the previous information in mind
I will be using my own server as the example server to reduce the chances of salty responses.
“DH at south inner SMC, mostly [SotD] and a few PUGs. Gate 50%”
Time passes
“South inner SMC at 30%, [SotD] left and moved north, PUGs still ramming.”
“DH cataing Langor. 3 catas, wall 20%.”
“DH moving along south SMC towards the south west side. A lot of [LXG] with them.”
All of these are important things to remember when scouting but don’t hesitate to get creative either! Different things can also be necessary for your teammates to know in different situations. How to evaluate what might be important and what might not is by considering what could potentially ruin your current plans!
Example
You are travelling with a small group attempting to capture SMC. Knowing that you will be faced with 2 sets of gates, you should also know that supplies will be highly important amongst your small group. As you run to a nearby tower or camp to resupply, consider shouting how many supplies are remaining in the depot: “20/100 in QL” so that your teammates spend less time going to an empty depot and can instead move to a full one.
I hope all of this helps with anyone who enjoys scouting, has newly discovered a love for it or even just those that are unsure about how to communicate info with their servermates!
Being social, friendly and most of all efficient are signs of a great scout. It’s hard work and often unrewarding but it can make a huge difference. Remember to thank your scouts and to learn a bit of the trade yourself just in case you’re ever in a scouts position!
Happy hunting (:
