Team Fortress 2 Scout Guide
January 13, 2008
The first guide in my Team Fortress 2 series features the Scout. The Scout is the quick and deadly class of Team Fortress 2. He moves much faster than any other class, can double jump and uses a powerful shotgun and a deadly bat. He is incredibly difficult to hit, captures points quickly, and can spin circles around the slower classes.
1. RUN!
The most obvious aspect of the Scout is his speed, which can be put to good use. Never stand still when facing down opponents. Instead, strafe around them while you shoot at them. Be sure to circle around in the opposite direction every few seconds to avoid getting hit. Practice shooting while running, and try to work out a strategy to make it easy to aim while running. Be sure to toss in some jumps every now and then in order to avoid fire. You are able to completely change directions in mid-air with your second jump, so be sure to use it. Be sure to jump from side to side rapidly when you see a sniper. If you find yourself low on health, run to the nearest medicine bottle that you can find: It doesn’t take that long, and you can extend your by life several minutes.
2. Weapons
The Scattergun is capable of killing any class in one or two hits at extremely close range, the only problem is that most enemies can kill you by then. However, you can still kill most enemies with the six rounds you have at close range. If you finish of those six rounds, don’t wait for the incredibly slow reload. Instead, switch to your pistol, run backwards, find a safe place, and then reload. The pistol is a pretty bad weapon, but it’s better than nothing, and it can still deal enough damage to finish off an enemy if you shoot a wounded character. The bat does a decent amount of damage and attacks quickly, but since Scouts tend to be dead at that range, don’t use it unless you are in a situation where you can’t aim, you have no ammo, or you just don’t care. If you feel the urge to use the bat, you can still use it on a Sniper who hasn’t seen you yet. When you see an enemy running in the same direction as you, run up right behind him and fire off two scattergun shots. The first one should kill him, but the second one will finish them off. A Heavy might survive that, so be prepared to run away.
3. Use Your Brain
First of all, don’t go NEAR a Sentry Gun. Sentries can kill you in the time it takes to realize how badly you screwed up. Instead, just wait for a teammate to kill it. If you’re impatient, and the Engineer isn’t around, you can try hiding behind a wall, quickly taking a step out, shooting the scattergun or pistol once, and ducking behind the wall again. Often, you die, but sometimes it works, letting you get the flag or control point. If you are playing on a territory control map like Gravel Pit, you can dart out and head towards the capture point, and quickly capture it. The Scout captures a point at the speed of two normal classes, so you can easily gain control of a weakly defended point. If you’re fighting a Pyro, Heavy, Demo or Soldier and they go around a corner, don’t follow them. They can just hit you with a powerful blast that instantly kills you. Most importantly, use cover and hide every now and then. Cover gives you the ability to reload, and then jump out at crazy, seemingly random speeds while shooting the enemy. It can cause panic in even the largest groups. Also, Team Fortress 2 is a team based game, so if you see a Medic with a group of enemies, be willing to sacrifice yourself to jump in and kill him. It might not give you the most points, but it does give you pride, and improves your teams chance of winning the round.
