Best way to build a scout?

[Master Thrower]

Hello playground i'm gonna be playing in a tenth level campaign and I got the scout/sneaky person role, and having always played rogues i'd like to spice it up a bit with scout. However I have no idea how to build a scout, so any advice would be appreciated .

Books- PHB,DMG, MM 1,3,4,5, DrC,LM,PlH,CA,CadV,CD,CW.

[gorfnab]

Two handbooks that may be of use.
The Scout's Handbook (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872250/The_Scouts_Handbook)
The Swift Hunter Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=103.0)
Are you wanting to be a melee or ranged scout? Do you want any spellcasting?

[Master Thrower]

Two handbooks that may be of use.
The Scout's Handbook (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872250/The_Scouts_Handbook)
The Swift Hunter Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=103.0)
Are you wanting to be a melee or ranged scout? Do you want any spellcasting?

I would prefer melee but either works

[Onikani]

Swift Hunter is afeat from Complete Scoundral (its the basis for that handbook) - i can't imagine making a scout without one.

[Mockingbird]

Scout OR sneaky person. There is no scout AND sneaky person.

[Big Fau]

Scout OR sneaky person. There is no scout AND sneaky person.

Actually, they are very good at stealth and highly mobile. And scouting ahead of the party requires stealth/speed.



See if your DM will allow Complete Scoundrel, Complete Champion, and Unearthed Arcana. If so, ask him if he'd allow you to play a Prestige Ranger Swift Hunter.

[hex0]

Which book is DrC? :smallconfused:

I suggest the swift hunter handbook for the low-down as well. Neraphims make excellent Scouts, as well.

You don't have Races of the Dragon, but Dragon Devotee is a decent PRC for Scouts.

[Amphetryon]

DrC is most likely Dragon Compendium.

[Eldariel]

Melee Scouts are, like their Ranged brethern, best as Swift Hunters. Given the handbook was already linked, I'll just cover the essentials specifically for melee Swift Hunter:
- You need a reliable way to full attack and deal Skirmish damage.
- You'll probably want to take 3-5 levels of Scout and mostly Ranger for BAB considerations (Swift Hunter stacks the key class features from both classes so you're free to customize the details like class split).
- The relevant, given your sources, ways of moving and full attacking consistently:
NONE!

There's a curveball for you. In fact, Complete Scoundrel isn't on your list of sources so you actually probably won't have access to Swift Hunter itself either. This creates a very serious problem for melee Scout; if you can't move and full attack, you won't really be able to do meaningful damage in melee.

Just about the only way you have available to you is Dervish from Complete Warrior and that unfortunately loses much of the skill access and points you're building your character for in the first place.


You might be able to pull something off with a ranged Scout using Greater Manyshot (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicFeats.htm#greaterManyshot). That's about the best I can come up with given the sources; without access to Swift Hunter itself or Able Learner [Races of Destiny] I don't see the Dervish-path working out for a skill monkey.

Lacking Swift Hunter still hurts though; you won't be able to penetrate precision damage immunity of common creatures such as Undead and Plants, which is a significant hurdle far as your combat capability goes especially since you're very much a one-trick pony.

[gkathellar]

How fixated are you on the Scout class itself? Because Scout 4-8/Ranger 6-2/Trapsmith 1/Swiftblade 9 could work out really nicely.

Huh, now I want to play that.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

A one-level dip in WhirlingPounceBarian is also of use to you, so you can move and full-attack at the same time.

Dervish is also of use to a melee scout.

But yea, scout/ranger with swift hunter is the basic chassis. And hey, you even get free TWF with Ranger. Score.

[Amphetryon]

A one-level dip in WhirlingPounceBarian is also of use to you, so you can move and full-attack at the same time.

Dervish is also of use to a melee scout.

But yea, scout/ranger with swift hunter is the basic chassis. And hey, you even get free TWF with Ranger. Score.Lion Totem's source is no more on the OP's book list than Complete Scoundrel.

[sonofzeal]

I played a very successful Melee Scout once, going Swift Hunter and TWF with sword and shield-bash. I put most of my feats towards my shield, both defensively with Shield Ward, and offensively with Shield Charge. The result was... maybe not optimal, but quite effective, and quite unconventional for a Rogue/Scout. He did reasonable damage with good AC, and had a wide variety of options both in and out of combat. Fun, flexible, and effective. I recommend giving it a try.

[Treblain]

If the feat table from Complete Scoundrel is good enough for your DM, it's here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070105a&page=4).

A thought: the source restrictions mean you will have a lot of trouble making multiple weapon attacks and moving in a turn. Maybe there's a way involving natural attacks instead? Or ask your DM about mounted combat. I'd link to the Free Movement compilation, but that would probably just depress you, because nearly all of the options are not viable for you.

If you're stuck with your books, Scout/Dervish is an okay build from what you have. The downside is that it deemphasizes the scouting aspect in favor of combat, and there are better pure combat builds.

[Zaq]

The best way to build a Scout, in my opinion, is at low levels. When only Whirlpouncers are getting multiple swings anyway, you can direct your optimization efforts towards something other than "GOTTA GET FULL ATTACKS ON SKIRMISH," which is neat. Unfortunately, for the purposes of this discussion, that's not helpful, is it?

Anyway, as other people have mentioned, with that book list, you're not gonna full attack on a skirmish, which is . . . well, terrible. Without your bonus damage on full attacks, your damage just isn't going to be up to par. If you can nicely convince your GM to ignore the errata banning mounted Skirmish from working, that might be an option, but RAW, it doesn't work.

Hmm. If you can get a flying mount who's smart enough to pick you up on command, you could have it lift you into the air, then drop you at the start of your turn, at which point you fall 10' or more, triggering Skirmish. This is silly, of course, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Bonus points if you name your mount Darbok (http://www.bluefurok.com/VSimages/darbok_dc_vs.jpg).

[Darrin]

- The relevant, given your sources, ways of moving and full attacking consistently:
NONE!


Actually, there's at least one: Net and Trident Style (Complete Warrior).

1) 5' step to back away from your opponent
2) Throw your net (ranged touch attack)
3) Make an opposed Str check to "control" your opponent
4) Take a free 5' step (10' total) forward and full attack with your trident.

Another method... should work by RAW but may get books thrown at you:

Make sure you're adjacent to your animal companion or mount and can hit a Ride check DC 20 even by rolling a 1. So long as you have a move action available, you can attempt a fast mount/dismount as a free action. Get on your mount from one side, then dismount into a different square at least 10' away. Since you still have all your actions available (possibly even a 5' step), proceed with a full attack.

There's also a trick where you can order your animal companion to bull rush you... but even if you can get the DM to swallow the RAW, it's unworthy of respectable play.