Hit Points: 150 Plasma Shields: 100 Size: Large Supply: 3 Cost: 275 125 Build Time: 80 Produced at: Stargate Requires: Stargate Base Ground Attack: 8 Base Air Attack: 28e Base Armor: 0 Range: 4 Sight: 8/10 Upgraded Cooldown: 30Gnd/22Air Production Hot Key: S

We regard the swift one-man Scout as a tool for exploration and light combat, but against the inferior technology of other species it is a formidable combat unit on its own. Scouts are armed with both air-to-air Missiles and ground-attack guns, making them effective against all targets. Recent developments in enhanced sensor systems and high-power engines have further increased its effectiveness.

The Scout is one of the most versatile and powerful tools available to the Protoss but it comes at a price. Protoss Scouts are expensive and require a long time to produce. They are very powerful in large groups, especially when combined with Shield Battery use. Gravitic Thrusters, researched at the Fleet Beacon, allow Scouts to travel at a much faster rate. To build a sizeable force of Scouts, 2 or more Stargates should be built to compensate for the long build time it takes to produce a Scout.

Scouts can inflict 8 points of normal damage (upgradeable to +3, +1 for each upgrade) to ground targets and their air attack, in the form of Missiles is 28 points of Explosive damage (upgradeable to +6, +2 per upgrade). Needless to say, with that kind of firepower, Scouts can cause devastating damage to any aerial force.

The Scout is easily the most powerful air unit for its price and as mentioned before, coupled with Shield Battery use, you can protect the investment of your Scout production. Although Shield Batteries are useful for any Protoss Unit, Scouts can take the best advantage of them with their speed and the fact that they can fly over any terrain. By recharging your Scouts' shields between attacks, you can lengthen the life span of the Scout by a considerable margin, and if you continue to produce Scouts while maintaining your existing ones, your Scout force will grow at a much faster rate. To best use the Battery/Scout combination, keep your Shield Batteries relatively close to battle sites and protected from ground attack. If you can afford to keep a cluster of Photon Cannons near the Shield Batteries, then all the better for a returning group of damaged Scouts.

While Scouts are able to attack ground units, they are not always the best option (unless the enemy has no anti-air attack units) due to their long cooldown times between ground attacks. They are, however, excellent as support units for Zealots, Dark Templar or Reavers (all of which lack the ability to attack aerial units).

When facing a Terran opponent, be sure to keep your Scouts escorted by one or more Observers, in the case that they may encounter cloaked Wraiths. Without the detection abilities of the Observers, your Scouts will have no defense against that kind of confrontation. For the easiest method of keeping Observers with your Scouts, just select an Observer and right-click on one of the Scouts. This will "link" the Observer to the targeted Scout and will tail the Scout without needing any additional commands. Note that giving the Observer a command afterwards will effectively break its link with the Scout and you will either have to re-link the Observer or make sure it's selected with the group of Scouts when they're being moved around.

Against the Zerg, Scouts should be wary of outnumbering groups of Mutalisks or Devourers. If your opponent is tending to use large groups of Mutalisks, your best option is to keep your Scouts accompanied by Corsairs, Dragoons or High Templar with Psionic Storm. If possible, keep your Scouts from packing too tightly together against Mutalisks to minimize the effectiveness of their "ricochet" attack. Against Devourers, try and destroy them as quickly as possible before they attach too many acid spores (which increases the Scout cooldown). Also with the Devourers, try and separate your Scouts to to avoid the splash effect from the Devourer attack. During land invasions, Scouts can be extremely useful for taking out Sunken Colonies to give your ground units more leeway in their attack. And if you have time to spare, use your Scouts to hunt down stray Overlords to both prevent the Zerg from seeing your movements as well as diminishing their supply.

Finally, with Brood War, the balance between the aerial units can best be defined by the Air Balance Model.

[ Click to Enlarge - 83 KB ] A few Scouts prevent Zerglings from attacking.	[ Click to Enlarge - 108 KB ] A group of Scouts support land troops.
[ Click to Enlarge - 77 KB ] A group of Scouts and Corsairs chase down some Wraiths.	[ Click to Enlarge - 68 KB ] Scouts and Corsairs attack a group of Battlecruisers.
[ Click to Enlarge - 77 KB ] Scouts can attack a Shuttle to force it to drop its payload before transporting them to their destination.	[ Click to Enlarge - 83 KB ] Use Scouts to destroy a defenseless expansion attempts.

Terrans

• Use Cloaked Wraiths (with ComSat scans or Science Vessels to reveal and destroy Observers immediately)
• Battlecruisers in numbers can overwhelm groups of Scouts (use Yamato Gun to instantly destroy Scouts)
• Goliaths work well against Scouts with their explosive damage Hellfire Missiles (a full 20 base damage points against Scouts)
• Use Lockdown with Ghosts to freeze and disable Scouts temporarily (use Cloaked Ghosts to sneak up on groups of Scouts)
• Use EMP Shockwave with Science Vessels to completely deplete the Plasma Shields of the Scouts
• Bunkers (filled with Marines) and Missile Turret Combinations

[ Click to Enlarge - 92 KB ] Terrans can completely drain Scout Shields with an EMP Shockwave.

Protoss

• Dragoons work well against Scouts with their explosive damage attack
• High Templar with Psionic Storm can spell doom for tight groups of Scouts
• In Scout vs. Scout encounters, good use of Shield Batteries can turn the tide (if the Scouts are similar size groups)
• Use Arbiters to cloak your air/anti-air force (be sure to bring along Observers to detect and destroy any Observers the enemy might have)

Zerg

• Use Scourge against lone or small groups of Scouts (not a good idea against larger groups of Scouts)
• Mass Mutalisks or Devourers or a combination of both work well against packs of Scouts
• Plague and Ensnare work well to help Mutalisks/Devourers overcome groups of Scouts
• Spore Colonies have a long range and can aid in deterring groups of Scouts

[ Click to Enlarge - 91 KB ] Hydralisks drive a Scout away from a Zerg town.	[ Click to Enlarge - 91 KB ] Zerg Scourges get ready to destroy some Scouts.

Air Weapons Level 1 - 100 100 Level 2 - 175 175 Level 3 - 250 250

Air Armor Level 1 - 150 150 Level 2 - 225 225 Level 3 - 300 300

Plasma Shields Level 1 - 200 200 Level 2 - 300 300 Level 3 - 400 400

Apial Sensors 100 100 Increased Scout Sight Range

Gravitic Thrusters 200 200 Faster Scout movement

Air Weapons - Ground attack is upgraded +1 per upgrade for a total of +3. Air attack is upgraded +2 per upgrade for a total of +6.

Air Armor - Each Upgrade adds +1 to Armor for a total of +3 with all three upgrades.

Plasma Shields - Each Upgrade adds +1 to Shields for a total of +3 with all three upgrades.

Apial Sensors - Although not necessary with ample use of Observers, this upgrade is cheap enough to say, Why not.

Gravitic Thrusters - This will allow Scouts to reach their targets at a much faster rate, as well as more quickly retreat to Shield Batteries.