Scout (competitive)

This article is for competitive play, based on the standard community competitive format.
The community competitive scene changes frequently. Some or all info may be outdated.

The Scout is the default utility class of the standard competitive lineup, valued for his objective-capturing and picking abilities.

Information

Health

Health State	Max Health	Overheal Max	Pill Bottle	First Aid Tin
Normal	125 hit points	185 hit points	+26 hit points	+63 hit points
Sandman-Equipped	110 hit points	165 hit points	+23 hit points	+55 hit points
The Special Delivery pack	150 hit points	225 hit points	+31 hit points	+75 hit points

Speed

Movement State	Running	Backpedaling	Swimming	Crouching
Normal	133.33% (400 u/s)	120% (360 u/s)	106.67% (320 u/s)	44% (133.33 u/s)

Speeds written in "u/s" refer to in-game units per second. When running in a certain direction causes slowness, rapidly switching between diagonals usually improves speed.

Weapons

Main article: Scout weapons (competitive)

#	Weapon	Damage	Critical Damage	Function Times	Special
1	Scattergun	Point-Blank: 104 512u: 6/hit, avg 6 hits 1024u+: 3/hit	Critical: 18 per hit (max 180) Point-Blank Mini-Crit: 141 512u+ Mini-Crit: 8/hit	Attack: 0.64s Reload Start: 0.76s Reload More: 0.56s	Affected by fixed weapon spread (1 extra pellet at center).
	Force-A-Nature	Point-Blank: 113 512u: 5.4/hit, avg 7 hits 1024u+: 3/hit	Critical: 16.2/hit (max 194) Point-Blank Mini-Crit: 152 512u+ Mini-Crit: 7.29/hit	Attack: 0.33s Reload: 1.64s	Banned or restricted in some leagues. Affected by fixed weapon spread (2 extra pellets at center, 1 extra at middle-right). Hits dealing at least 40 damage cause knockback based on damage and positioning. Reloading always consumes entire clip, even if 1 shot still loaded. Allows for triplejumps and forcejumps.
	Shortstop	Point-Blank: 72 512u: 12/hit, avg 4 hits 1024u+: 6.34/hit	Critical: 36/hit (max 144) Point-Blank Mini-Crit: 97 512u+ Mini-Crit: 16.2/hit	Attack: 0.36s Reload: 1.01s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. Affected by fixed weapon spread (4 close pellets: center, left, right, down). Shares ammo with Pistol.
	Soda Popper	Point-Blank: 104 512u: 6/hit, avg 6 hits 1024u+: 3/hit	Critical: 18/hit (max 180) Point-Blank Mini-Crit: 141 512u+ Mini-Crit: 8/hit	Attack: 0.315s Reload: 1.23s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time.[citation needed] Damage statistically identical to Scattergun Affected by fixed weapon spread(1 extra pellet in center). Reloading always consumes entire clip, even if 1 shot still loaded. After running 5200u, approx. 14 seconds, with weapon active, automatically activates 8 second mini-crit boost for all weapons.
2	Pistol	Point-Blank: 22 512u: 15 1024u+: 8	Critical: 45 Point-Blank Mini-Crit: 30 512u+ Mini-Crit: 20	Attack: 0.125s Reload: 1.36s	If unfired in the past 1.25 seconds, shot has perfect accuracy.
	Winger	Point-Blank: 25 512u: 17 1024u+: 10	Critical: 52 Point-Blank Mini-Crit: 35 512u+ Mini-Crit: 23	Attack: 0.125s Reload: 1.36s	If unfired in the past 1.25 seconds, shot has perfect accuracy. +15% damage -60% clip size (clip size of 5)
	Bonk	N/A	N/A	Drinking: 1.25s Invulnerability: 6s Total Recharge: 30s	Übersaw still gains ÜberCharge from "dodged" hits. Recharge starts when invulnerability starts. Useless underwater.
	Crit-a-Cola	N/A	N/A	Drinking: 1.25s Mini-Crit Effect: 6s Total Recharge: 30s	Banned or restricted in some leagues. While active, causes Scout to deal and receive Mini-Crits on all attacks. Recharge starts when Mini-Crit effect starts. Useless underwater.
	Mad Milk	N/A	N/A	Effect Duration: 6s Refill Time: 10s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. Affected foes grant self and allies 60% lifesteal on hit. Splash goes through doors and grates. Extinguishes fire on teammates. Reveals Spies (can't be removed by DR, unlike fire).
3	Bat	Melee: 35	Critical: 105 Mini-Crit: 47	Attack: 0.5s	Lowest DPS of all non-unlock melee besides non-backstab knife.
	Sandman	Melee: 35 Ball Point-Blank: 15 Ball 512u+: 11	Melee Critical: 105 Melee Mini-Crit: 47 Ball Critical: 45 Ball Point-Blank Mini-Crit: 20 Ball 512u+ Mini-Crit: 15	Attack: 0.5s	Banned or restricted in most leagues. "Fleeing state" time based on target distance; stuns at max distance. Ball does not have damage fall-off, but does have damage ramp-up. Cannot throw ball underwater. Reduces max health by 15 (see above).
	Holy Mackerel	Melee: 35	Critical: 105 Mini-Crit: 47	Attack: 0.5s	Banned in some leagues for acquisition time. Statistically identical to bat. Globally announces hits on killboard (doesn't reveal Spies).
	Candy Cane	Melee: 35	Critical: 105 Mini-Crit: 47	Attack: 0.5s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. Statistically identical to bat. 25% explosive damage vulnerability on wearer. On kill: A small health pack is dropped.
	Boston Basher	Melee: 35	Critical: 105 Mini-Crit: 47	Attack: 0.5s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. Statistically identical to bat. On Hit: Bleed for 5 seconds to target. On miss: Bleed effect is applied to yourself.
	Three-Rune Blade	Melee: 35	Critical: 105 Mini-Crit: 47	Attack: 0.5s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. Statistically identical to Boston Basher. On Hit: Bleed for 5 seconds to target. On miss: Bleed effect is applied to yourself.
	Sun-on-a-Stick	Melee: 30	Critical: 90 Mini-Crit: 40	Attack: 0.5s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. 100% minicrits vs burning players -15% damage done.
	Fan O'War	Melee: 4	Critical: 13 Mini-Crit: 5	Attack: 0.5s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time. On Hit: one target at a time is marked for death, causing all damage taken to be mini-crits.Effect duration 10s. -90% damage done (Lowest DPS of all Scout melee unlocks)
	Saxxy	Melee: 35	Critical: 105 Mini-Crit: 47	Attack: 0.5s	Limited item from Replay Update. Statistically identical to bat. Enemies killed by weapon turn gold on death instead of ragdolling.
	Atomizer	Melee: 28	Critical: 84 Mini-Crit: 38	Attack: 0.65s	Banned in most leagues for acquisition time.[citation needed] Grants triple jump Deals 10 damage to self upon every triple jump. Upon double or triple jumping, shows a purple cloud particle effect under feet.

"u" stands for "units of distance." "+" stands for "or more." "s" stands for "seconds." "Reload Start" refers to how long it takes for 1 ammo to be reloaded after beginning to reload, and "Reload More" refers to how long it takes for each additional ammo to reload after the first. Damages and times are approximate and determined by community testing.

Usage

Of all utility classes, Scout is the most common. His mobility, ability to 2-shot enemy medics and Scouts, and advantage when fighting enemy demos make him useful for picking in a variety of situations.

Common Tactics

Scouts are perhaps the best class for flanking and ambushes in competitive TF2. Their speed, absurd damage output at close range, and their ability to easily dodge the projectiles fired by Soldiers and Demomen make them ideal for flanking the enemy team and killing the Medic and Demoman. A competitive Scout should always keep an eye out for opportunities to rush in and cripple the enemy team, but without forgetting to cover certain areas of the map to prevent the enemy scouts from doing the same. Due to the speed and mobility of Scouts, they are good for hunting down and eliminating enemy Scouts, taking pressure off of their team's combo and Demoman.

One way that the scouts can take the pressure of the combo and the rest of the team is by back-capping; the threat of having scouts rampaging behind them is something no team wants. Not only that, but the scouts are quicker than any other class so they can get to the next point quicker than anyone else. If the team doesn't have any team mates respawning then it's possible that the scouts can make it back to the last point. Even when it's not successful, back-capping will give the team a chance to regroup and respawn, it can be the difference between keeping control of the point and losing the point and possibly even the round.

During mid battles scouts have two main duties to fulfill, either they need to protect their demo and medic from the enemy scouts, or go aggressive and try to kill the opposing medic or demo. Normally the scouts will try to do the best of both worlds, one scout will play passively whilst the second scout will wait for an opportunity to attack the medic and demo. For example, on Badlands middle, what usually happens is that one scout will go and watch Valley, and the other will watch the small house; if one of the scouts calls that both scouts are going one way then the other scout will go and help out.

5-CP Push Strategies

Scouts will generally be one of the first classes to arrive at the middle point of most 5-CP maps. On some maps, like Badlands Demomen can arrive a couple of seconds ahead. On these maps, Scouts should beware of enemy sticky traps early on, as they are needed at the mid fight. There will be few seconds before the Soldiers and Medics of both teams arrive.

In order to avoid the early stickies on those maps the scouts can go a different way and skip the choke points where the stickies are normally placed. For example, on Badlands, when they rollout, one scout should go choke via main, and the other scout should drop down into valley instead of going through house with their combo. In general scouts should never be in a choke point if they can avoid it, this is simply because they are too fragile and can easily die.

Scouts usually push on the flanks, this is for two reasons, firstly they make sure that the enemy scouts don't manage to sneak behind and start a back-cap, and secondly, it allows them to get in close whilst the enemy are distracted by your combo. Once the scouts are in close they can deal a lot of damage and mop up any remaining enemies.

Attack-Defend Strategies

On attack defend maps, scouts are generally switched off to a utility class such as sniper, spy, or engineer when on defense. Scouts are still useful for the offensive team as they provide faster cap time and have good deathmatching abilities and can keep pressure at the attacking points.

See also

• Scout weapons (competitive)
• Capping (competitive)
• Scout
• Classes (competitive)
• Standard competitive lineup