Allods Online Scout Comprehensive Guide

Allods Online Scout Comprehensive Guide by kolasi

Introduction:
Scouts are a CC-reliant, ranged single-target DPS class. With no self heals and leather armor, we’re arguably the squishiest class in Allods, but are a lot of fun to play with amazing capabilities in PvP and PvM.
With the recent Astral Oddyssey patch, we’ve lost some of these capabilities but gained many as well.
Though scouts struggle at certain points in the game, the trials and tribulations are worth the rewards.
Throughout this guide, I’ll detail various strategies, builds, and the pro’s and con’s of all that make the Scout Archetype unique.

Table of Contents:
1::Class Overview
1.a-Picking a race?
2::Talent descriptions+Speculation
3::Rubies
4::Scout Builds
–4.a– Ranged builds
–4.b-Melee builds
5::Strength, Finesse, Expertise, Luck… And you.
6:: Strategies & Skill rotation
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The table of contents is for those concerned about a specific part of this guide. Use Ctrl+F, and type in the number that corresponds with what you’re looking for. (I.E. Ctrl+F, search for “4.b” for Melee builds)
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1::Scout Overview
A few basics of scouts… These are things that effect how you can handle your playstyle greatly, mainly adding this for people considering rolling scout characters.
– Quiver: Enchanted arrows must be, well, enchanted.

Above my hotkeyed skills 1-6 are my enchanted arrows. As you can see, my quiver is currently full.. Using these arrows are separate attacks completely, so they only get used when you want them to.
After you run out of enchanted arrows, you can fletch more in combat by either clicking on the icons OR using a separate spell from the spellbook. I usually click the icon due to keeping hotkeys less confusing, personal preference.
After getting Out of Combat, you’re scout will automatically fletch any enchanted arrow quivers that aren’t currently full.
The best part about enchanted arrows? They don’t require energy to use, nor do they have cast times… usually.

– Depleted Resources:The bane of ranged scouts. This debuff is the major flaw of the scout class, making non CC-able mobs impossible to solo efficiently (especially a problem in the “Kirah” Zone). Here’s what it looks like.

Any ranged attacks used within 5 yards of an enemy add a stack of this debuff. Each stack adds 1s to cast times, and builds up quick. Also reduces parry/dodge chances by 25% per stack. This makes it vital for ranged scouts to keep as much distance as possible.
Depleted Resources will even add a cast time to the instant cast enchanted arrows, so beware.
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1.a-Picking a Race?
Depending on your faction, racial abilities can be quite helpful for scouts, melee in particular.
Xadaganian:Our Racial is horrible. a tiny AoE attack in front of us that deals damage. I can count the times i’ve actually used this skill on 2 hands.
Kanian: A ranged explosive arrow attack that inflicts a tiny AoE with damage.
Orcs:Heres a decent racial, by comparison. Leap 20 yards where you want.. Kind of like another recoil.
Gibberlings:A snare ability, stopping the target from moving for a few seconds. As much as I despise gibberlings and all their furriness, this racial would be awesome for a pvp melee scout.

all in all, i’d pick gibberling on league side, and orc on empire side. All those vanity-aware players may choose differently, the racials aren’t gamebreaking for scouts.
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2::Talent Descriptions
In this section, I’ll detail any useful ranged talents and then any useful melee talents. Note that this is based on my opinion, while adding a few that the general scout population favor.
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Ranged Talents

Incendiary Arrow(IA):Enchanted fire arrows that inflect a DoT effect. Ticks for dmg based on your strength every 2seconds for 12 seconds.Max quiver size is 7, while being able to stack up to 3 times.
===Incendiary arrow is a must have at rank 3 for end-game party/raid DPS. rotating double shots with IA is very efficient. For leveling purposes, its personal preference:Each tick of IA removes a stack of Tranquilizing arrow. You’ll end up getting it atleast rank 2, to unlock the next branch of talent skills.

Tranquilizing Arrow(Tranq):Enchanted arrows that inflict 10/12/15 stacks of a slow effect on a mob. Each stack is 5% speed reduction, and every attack removes a stack of this from the mob. Max quiver size is 7, and you’re able to refresh it before it runs out.
>>>This is a bread and butter skill for scouts, you’ll need rank 3 asap. It’s the only way you’d be able to kite mobs while grinding solo.

Branding Shot:does a small amount of damage, and places the effect “Scout’s Mark” on the target. Switching targets removes the effect. the Scout’s Mark Effect increases damage for other skills as well as enables you other heavy hitting skills.
>>>Another necessity for scouts… I’ll explain how to decide what rank to get in another section.

Double Shot:Shoots 2 arrows that inflict direct damage. Damage increased by 60% if the target is inflicted by the Scout’s Mark Effect.
>>>Yet another necessity, no matter what ranged scout build you’re looking at– this will be rank 3. Just a small note, each arrow of the double shot removes a stack of tranq. arrow’s effect.

Caltrops:Throw a handful of steel spikes on the ground. knocks down enemies in range for 2seconds, and has a 60/80/100% chance to stun for an additional 3 seconds.
>>>Great skill all around… Some prefer rank 2 and using additional talents elsewhere. I personally love rank 3. Grab it either way.

Recoil:allows you to jump back 15/20/25 yards and stuns the target for 1/2/3 seconds.
>>>No one wants depleted resources… This is how you avoid it. For leveling purposes, rank 3 is recommended. For end game party/raid dps purposes, I do fine with rank 2.

Tesla Shot:Enchanted Arrows with a quiver size of 5. Shoots a lightning arrow that does damage based on strength to the target and all enemies within 5 yards of the target.
>>>Although it’s the only aoe skill for scouts, it’s not very effective for aoe grinding. It does do a decent chunk of damage even on single targets. It’s also very effective in large-scale pvp battles, for clearing mage reflections. A mage defensive skill that has a chance at directing your attacks to a reflection… Tesla being an AOE attack, all reflections are cleared immediately.

Merciless Shot:Deals a heavy blow to the target while knocking them down.
>>>The energy cost and cast time make this skill very unviable in PvP, and still nothing spectacular in PvM. You can stunlock by using merciless shot, a branding/IA/Double (with good timing), then rapidfire. However you can stunlock with caltrops knockdown as well, and now that caltrops knocks down for 2 seconds and stuns for 3 more, this skill isn’t thought twice about by myself. rank1 for leveling is the max I would recommend.

Throat Shot:Inflects damage and a silence effect for 6 seconds.
>>>Upgrading it’s rank only reduces the cooldown… I honestly don’t use this skill enough to recommend past rank 1.

Vengeful Shot:Inflicts damage per stack of the Hardened Resolve Effect. The Hardened Resolve effect is stacked on yourself when your target dodges, parries, or blocks your attacks. Note that Hardened Resolve will ONLY stack up if the target is effected by Scout’s Mark(Branding Shot). Stacks up to 5 times
>>>This skill can be very strong, but it’s also dependant on you being dodged/parried/blocked… Ideally, you’d want enough expertise to avoid any of this. However if you are a bow user, you’ll be attacking fast enough to stack it up quick.

Flash Bomb:blinds all targets within a 5 yard radius for 4/6/8 seconds.
>>>This skill can be useful… But it’s got some flaws. The casting range is only 10 yards, any damage removes the blind effect (including Incendiary arrow), and the radius is rather small. I picked up rank 1, however I would never recommend someone go higher. Rank 1 or none.

Powerful Shot:Inflicts damage and knocks the target back 5/6/7 yards. Can only be used when the target is effected by Scout’s Mark. Removes the effect Scout’s Mark.
>>>Basically, a very powerful finisher that’s very effective to use right as branding shot’s effect is about to end(About 3seconds left). The energy cost for powerful shot is really high though, so either rank 3 or not at all… Rank 1 or 2 would be wasting energy, better to use double shot or vengeful shot. Crossbow users beware the high energy cost, however the damage is crazy.
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Melee Talents:

Lunge:One of your few attack abilities. instant melee skill, rank 3 is a must.

Smoke Cloud:Covers you with a smoke cloud that increases dodge chance by 30% for 30/45/60 seconds. 2 minute cooldown.
>>>For a melee scout, smoke cloud is absolutely necessary. Rank 3, no questions asked. Rubies picked up for smoke cloud make it awesome.

tranq arrow:See above. Still very useful for ranged scouts, particularly for keeping enemies inside the caltrops skill for longer.

Caltrops:See above as well. rank 3 is highly recommended for melee, especially considering how few talent points you need as a melee scout.

maim:inflicts a small amount of damage and reduces targets movement speed by 20% for 30 seconds. Effect stacks 2/3/4 times.
>>>Though it’s a melee skill, the damage is laughable and tranq arrow is much more effective… Only useful in pvp and with a 6 second cooldown, you’ll hardly be able to stack it up effectively. Rank 1 if at all.

tesla shot:chances are, you’re playing melee scout for pvp. Tesla proc’s depleted resources but it clears mages reflections, grab rank 1.

Vengeful Shot:See above. Melee attacks being dodges/blocked/parried will also add stacks of hardened resolve, something to think about. With a crossbow as a secondary weapon, you could pack quite a punch to anyone who decides to run away/keep distance.
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3::Rubies

There are three ruby grids:Lunge, Steady Shot, and Incendiary Arrow. These are named based on the base ruby already given to you in each grid. Due to the plethora of various rubies available to scouts, I’ll detail ones used in builds and ones that I personally think aren’t worth the rubies no matter what.

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4::Scout Builds
Scout builds seem to various strongly among people… I see some builds and wonder what made people decide to grab certain skills when there are far better options available, in my opinion. Here are a few I use, and what situations/styles they benefit the most.
You may notice I use a different amount of rubies for each build. That’s because I either will have extra by time i’ve finished my World Mysteries/reach level 47, or a certain build requires all of my rubies. I will have 46 rubies by time I reach level 47.

4.a-Ranged builds
Note that I have not, and will not use or recommend steady shot. Rotating tesla or incendiary arrow is much more effective, and less energy consuming.

Solo Leveling/Questing/PvP build:42 rubies, 52 talents.

The yellow markings are for those who choose to use a bow, and the red are for those who choose to wield a crossbow instead. I recommend, while leveling, you take these rubies last regardless of their damage boost. You never know when the next time you’ll get a better version of either one, so it’s best not to limit yourself right off the bat.
The orange markings in the first ruby grid are ones I also recommend getting later, due to the ruby intensity of the build.
I included the Depleted Resources Rubies (Which has a misinforming tooltip; ONLY WORKS for enchanted arrows) for mobs that can’t be cc’ed… a.k.a Kirah Questing 42+.
You may also be curious as to why this build is labeled as PvP as well. Simply because, solo leveling is heavily reliant on CC’s and keeping your distance, etc. PvP isn’t much different for a ranged scout.

Rapidfire:Even though this is in the ruby grid (southwest of Steady Shot), it’s an active skill that I feel is worth mentioning. Fires 6 arrows over 5 seconds. Using it on targets that are knocked down (merciless shot, caltrops) will keep them knocked down. Useful for stunlocking targets while your party beats up on them, in PvM or PvP, or just giving yourself time to get energy back (Yes, you actually get more energy back in the time it casts then it costs to cast).

Crippling Shot:Another ability in the ruby grid that deserves a looksies. The tooltip is mislabeled; the effect doesn’t stack to 3, the quiver size is 3. However, this can be more devastating in PvP then first meets the eye. Casting it on a target puts a debuff on them causing their next spellcast to have an increased cooldown and take minor damage. When I say minor, I mean minor… But the increased cooldown makes you a psi-scout with a mini mindfire. Skills with instant cooldowns receive 4s cooldowns, etc etc.
Definitely recommended to consider for a PvP-focused player, not so much for a PvM player. Just wish I could fit this into my melee PvP spec I have, can’t afford the rubies to reach it though. I’ll be picking this up again though when/if I respec range.

Pure DPS(GT/Astral) Build-Bow: 42 Rubies, 53 talents.

Pure DPS(GT/Astral Build-Crossbow:44 rubies, 53 talents.

If you’re respeccing end game and already have the rubies, you may decide to pick up the middle subterfuge (threat generation decreased) ruby instead of the blank one to access the strength rubies.
Unfair Advantage rubies in the IA grid are mislabeled as well — They add 5 energy regen every 20/10/6 seconds. Very useful for crossbows.

I don’t recommend picking up both aura’s due to the incapability of having both active at the same time… Depending on your spec, i’d go with one or the other. Since you’ll be at a disadvantage for not picking one weapon type or the other for the 3/6/9% damage increase rubies, this will help you choose. Preferably Aura of Restoration with crossbow, Aura of Ferocity with Bow… I also would recommend you not waste rubies getting Aura of Ferocity as a leveling spec, due to the -30% armor. You’ll be getting hit rather hard.

Luck and Strength rubies due to those being a “good” scouts highest two stats.
Double shot rubies are absolutely necessary for any ranged scout… You’re gimping yourself if you think you can find something more important to have.
Swift fletching is pretty universal as well. Allows you to kite high HP targets with tranq arrow, and fletch IA arrows in the middle of a long boss fight.
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4.b-Melee Builds
Melee scouts have substantially less dps capabilities, and take hits more often… sometimes. Melee scouts however, are more fun to play in my opinion, especially in PvP. I notice I win alot more 1v1’s as a melee then I could have dreamed of winning as a ranged scout.
As one of the only melee scouts to play for a decent amount of time besides xUVx, who’s also a pioneer in the melee build, I think I can safely say what does and does not work for melee *Effectively*.

Let it be known that with a melee scout, you’re better off using paired swords then any other paired weapon type. The cooldown of Lunge and Reflex Action are NOT shared. However, there is a 1s global cooldown when you use abilites, meaning you can’t spam them like a madman. Paired Swords and Paired SnD of the same grade will have the same DPS rating, but you’ll notice the Damage and speed are different, with paired swords having 5.0 speed and higher damage, with others having higher speed but less damage.

Using Sword and Dagger, Paired axes, etc (6.7 weapon speed), the cooldown when you use Lunge or Reflex Action will be 1.5 seconds for the skill you use, and a 1s global cooldown before you are able to use the other ability — This means you only save 0.5s

With paired swords, the cooldown given to lunge or Reflex Action is 2seconds, with 1s global CD on the other — Meaning you’re skills can be rotated perfectly in sync with the global cooldown.

Considering this, Melee scouts got the short end of the stick end game, where there are no paired swords available from astral. I’m currently attempting to get the paired swords from Genoer, because they would actually be better then my epic paired SnD from AoD.
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Ranged/Melee PvP/Leveling hybrid:42 rubies, 52 talents.

You can either pick up vengeful shot or Powerful shot… Depending on your secondary, one could be better then the other. Vengeful shot works better with bows, cause you’re able to stack Hardened Resolve faster. Powerful shot hits like a truck with a crossbow…
Without the rubies, maybe just an SUV
This is the build *I personally* use, and will probably never do anything different. Dodge and parry rubies are essential, and the Ninjutsu is a necessity with sambo roll, especially in PvP. Dancing around warriors who can’t move because they’re standing in my caltrops and can’t hit me because smoke cloud = Maniacal laugh inducing.

Although maim is one of the few melee abilities, the 6 second cooldown and damage equal to or lower then my basic attack make it silly… If anyone turns to run away, tranq arrow and caltrops will take care of that. Even a fast flash bomb.

*NOTE* after testing thoroughly, the Immortal Combatant rubies (Increased critical strike rate with Lunge/Reflex Action), DOES NOT WORK for Reflex Action, the upgraded version of lunge. Anyone willing to test this as well can go ahead, but my dps meter over 3 hours of grinding made it pretty clear. This was indeed a huge bummer for me, and gimps my dps, I still find melee very fun and viable.

Depending on how often you group/go AOD, you may drop vengeful/powerful shot and pick up the group buff instead. I’ve never had energy problems as a melee scout, but the group sure likes it. I’m not much for playing a support role though, so I skipped it.
I won’t recommend any other melee build simply because I most likely wouldn’t approve of it, or haven’t tried it personally. As far any extra rubies above 42 rubies, It would depend on how many extra rubies past 42 you have 1 point of accu heat to pick up another agi ruby (Since melee scouts are pretty effective at off-tanking with smoke cloud)
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5::Strength, finesse, expertise, luck… and you.
I’ve noticed some variations on what forum-present scouts recommend to have these stats balanced at. Some are more.. thought out then others, while others extending back to Ghobe’s days just think they know what their talking about with no personal testing.

Strength is not a stat you want set at a certain percentage. You want strength as high as possible, while maintaining proper balance in the other 3 catagories.

Finesse is the most debated scout stat, due to how it varies. I personally alway find myself lowering or raising strength based on what finesse I have. Finesse determines how much of a targets armor will be accounted for when you attack them. So depending on what you’re fighting, having this higher or lower at the cost of strength can provide drastic differences in results.
I keep my finesse at 1% increased for grinding purposes, 5%-10% increased for GT(mobs like nogrom, draconids have higher armor), and 15-20% for PvP in AoD/MI, for plate wearers. You’ll notice at less then 15% or so, you’ll do more damage to a warrior, for example, if the warrior is using off spec leather gear instead of plate gear.

Expertise varies for me all the time. While being dodged/blocked/parried isn’t something i’d prefer to do, I much rather stack more strength or luck then try to get my expertise below 10%. If you’re one to keep your expertise high, Vengeful shot will become rather useless for you, so adjust talents/stats accordingly.

Luck varies widely for me as well, but usually I try to keep it between 40 and 55%. With a ranged build, Piercing blows doubles your critical strike rate with direct damage attacks. Your critical strike rate however, is also effected by your targets Endurance stat.

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This concludes my scout guide! I hope you find some of the information useful, whether as a newbie or a veteran to the class. Feel free to to ask any questions here, or PM my in game name: Kolasi.
Now, for any disagreements or debatable decisions I posted, I kindly ask that you reply here in a courteous manner or Forum PM me. Any PMs in game about such matters will be ignored.