Scout
Effects Build
This build relies on effect type damage to be applied to any enemy prior to starting any actual damage. Effects includes One Fire/Stunned/Electrocuted/Frozen/Neurotoxin. This, in turn, influences our perk choice and secondary weapon choice to compliment this focused effect build. This also makes the Voltaic Stun Sweeper a viable choice for this build as it can easily apply Electrocution to a large number of enemies at once. This is a great solo and support build, since this build is very capable of applying it’s own effects on enemies it works great on solo activities. In group games, we can take advantage of our fellow dwarves abilities and their weapons that apply effects making this a very reliable build to use. Equipment perk choices remain a constant throughout the Scout class, making it easier to use between builds.
Check out the Dreadnought Variant of this build to effectively deal with Dreadnoughts specifically.
Weapons
Deepcore GK2
T1B – 
Superchanged Feed Mechanism (+1 Rate of Fire)
T2B – 
Expanded Ammo Bags (+120 Max Ammo)
T3B – 
High Capacity Magazine (+10 Magazine Size)
T4A – 
Hollow-Point Bullets (+20% Weakpoint Damage Bonus)
T5C – 
Stun (+35% to Stun on Weakpoint Hit)
Bullets of Mercy (+50% Damage to enemies that are affected by status effects. -33% Magazine Size)
This build revolves around the overclock selected, 50% increase in damage to all enemies affected by any status effect. T5C (Stun) has a decent chance to stunning enemies, making this weapon reliable to activate a status effect onto enemies on it’s own. T3B (High Cap Mags) helps with the negative effects of Bullets of Mercy, so we don’t lose out on too much ammo in our mags. T4A (Hollow-Point) is a natural choice to this build since we are already focusing on damaging weakpoints to activate our Stun ability. T1B and T2B can be selected based on preference. Having more ammo and able to deal out damage faster is always a safe bet.
Jury-Rigged Boomstick
T1A – 
Expanded Ammo Bags (+8 Max Ammo)
T2A – 
Double Trigger (+7.5 Rate of Fire)
T3C – 
High Capacity Shells (+3 Pellets per Shot)
T4A – 
Super Blowthrough Shells (+3 Bullet Penetration)
T5C – 
White Phosphorous Shells (50% of Damage converted to fire Damage)
Jumbo Shells (+8 Damage per Pellet; -10 Max Ammo; +0.5 Reload Time)
Boomstick is our first option of a secondary weapon for this build as it pairs extremely nicely with the Deepcore. This is a high damage burst style weapon, able to deal with Praetorians with ease, or groups of grunts thanks to it’s penetrating bullets (T4A). Since this is a high burst damage weapon, we want to capitalize on that with T3C (High Cap Shells) and our overclock to increase our damage per pellet with each shot. T5C (White Phosphorous Shells) made the most sense with a build focused on effects, but also for the additional damage of lighting enemies on fire. Since our overclock also reduces the overall ammo we carry, T1A (Expanded Ammo Bags) helps mitigate that loss.
Alternate
Nishanka Boltshark X-80
T1A – 
Special Bolts : Pheromone Dart (Enemies hit become hostile to each other)
T2C – 
Expanded Special Quiver (+40% Special Ammo)
T3A – 
Stabilizing Arm Brace (-0,4 Reload Time; -0,4 Ammo Swap Time)
T4B – 
Radio Transmitter Module (Hover over an arrow to retrieve it)
T5A – 
Potent Special Bolts (+30% Special Effect Duration)
or
Cryo/Fire Bolt (Apply Cold or Burn effects to enemies. Enemies can Freeze or catch on Fire. Reduce Special Bolt Damage)
An alternate choice to this build, along with an alternate playstyle is the Boltshark. Instead of a secondary weapon that deals massive damage, this is a utility secondary, used to apply effects to enemies, or to turn larger enemies hostile to others. Use the Pheromone Darts to turn Praetorians and Oppressors hostile to grunts, letting them get swarmed while you deal with any stragglers. Cryo Bolts, or Fire Bolts can be used as the overclocks here, they essentially do the same thing, up to personal preference if you want to Freeze enemies, or light them on fire. The perk choices revolve around our special arrows, T2C and T5A, while T4B is only useful if you miss your Pheromone Dart, overclock arrows are not retrievable. When using the overclock arrows, aiming for the group will apply it’s effect to any enemy the travel to close to the arrows impact.
Equipment
Flaregun
T1A – 
Expanded Ammo Bags (+3 Max Ammo)
T2C – 
High Capacity Mags (+1 Magazine Size)
T3A – 
Magnesium Core (+15 Second Duration)
I found these perks to be the best choices overall. There is the option to chance T1A to T1B if you want your flares to last longer, but given the composition of most caves, you are not staying in the same place long enough to get the full benefits most of the time.
Grappling Hook
T1B – 
Longer Cable (+5m Range)
T2A – 
Greater Cable Stretch (+5m Range)
T3A – 
High Velocity Ejection System (-0.2 Second Shoot Speed)
T4C – 
Bypassed Integrity Check (-1 Second Cooldown)
I found these perks to be best overall, increase in range and reduced cooldown.
Fox Amor Rig
T1A – 
Improved Generator (-1 Second Shield Recharge Delay)
T2B – 
Healthy (+20 Max Health)
T3A – 
Shock Absorbers (+33% Fall Damage Reduction)
T4C – 
Breathing Room (+3 Second Revive Invulnerability)
Armor is pretty flexible in perk choice, I enjoyed the following perk combination. It will always be more beneficial to take T2B (Healthy) for the increase in health, rather then shield, which only gives +5. Shield also regenerates, while health does not unless you gather red sugar or a re-supply pod. I also found T4C to be helpful especially on harder difficulties were you might be revived in the middle of a horde of enemies, the extra seconds in invulnerability will really help to get to a safe distance to re-group.
Cryo Grenade
OR
Voltaic Stun Sweeper
Cryo is by far my favorite grenade, it has a wide range of applications were it is extremely useful. To name a few, instantly freezing large groups of enemies all at once, even praetorians. It can also be used to instantly kill smaller enemies like swarmers, they will also instantly kill all Mactera enemies. Lastly, freezing all enemies during/after getting a revive on a fellow dwarf is extremely strong to help them escape or to help yourself to get that revive.
An alternative choice here is the Voltaic Stun Sweeper. This “grenade” is very useful for this build specifically as it applies electrocution to enemies, up to 9 total. This allows us to deal 50% more damage with our main weapon easily thanks to this grenade choice.
Passive Perks
Thorns
Resupplier
Elemental Insulation
Deep Pockets
Thorns : One of the better perks for the Scout, since we don’t have any great crowd control against swarmers and alike, this perk really helps up out. It is capable of killing small enemies instantly after they hit us. It helps the overall crowd control capabilities. Definitely worth grabbing.
Resupplier : Another great perk that I recommend across all classes. If resupplying 50% faster wasn’t good enough to have in a pinch, gaining 25% more health each time is just the cherry on top. One of the best passive perks to have in my opinion.
Elemental Insulation : An optional choice, but a relatively strong one depending on the cave biome you’re in. Take 30% less damage from all elemental sources. This includes; Fire/Frost/Electricity/Poison/Radiation/Heat and Cold.
Deep Pockets : Another optional choice for the Scout, this is more a quality of life perk choice, it allows you to hold +15 more minerals of each type. This can be particularly helpful when gathering resources from hard to reach places, and in general limit the amount of trips needed to deposit them. This especially shines in any mission that does not have a Molly.
Active Perks
Heightened Senses
Field Medic
Iron Will
Beast Master
Heightened Senses: Based on personal preference. If you play solo, you can rely on Bosco to help you out from being grabbed, usually by a cave leach. For group games, as a Scout who is usually ahead of the group, or in hard to reach places, it can be useful to have an emergency safety button to escape bring grabbed from something that would otherwise kill you. This perk can be skipped if you’re playing with a reliable group that can save you quickly.
Field Medic: 100% a group game perk, do not use if playing solo. This perk should definitely be equipped when playing in a group game, especially for the Scout, but definitely useful on any class. The ability to revive allies 30%, fear enemies after reviving an ally, on top of the activation option of instantly reviving an ally, this perk can save games on its own.
Iron Will : Once per mission, you can revive yourself for 12 seconds before going back down. This may not sound like a great perk at first, but it can be used to save games. While on it’s own, not very strong, you can revive allies who can then revive you in turn. Alternatively, even in a solo game, there is a way you can stay alive, effectively turning this into a permanent self revive option. If you gather health within the 12 seconds, you will stay alive. This can be from Red Sugar, Resupply pods, or other means (Vampire Passive Perk). This perk can be very strong on a Scout who can zip around to gain health, or to quickly find an ally and revive them. Recommended saving it’s use until absolutely necessary.
Beast Master : A generally fun, and useful support perk, I found it’s best use in solo games, but it is not restricted to this mode. This perk allows you to convert a “Grunt” level enemy to be a companion. This includes “Grunts”;”Slashers” and “Guards”. I found Guards to be the best ones to grab, from the available options. It has the most health, which means, will survive the longest while grabbing enemy attention. In a pinch, the Slasher is also very helpful as it has the most damage to kill enemies from the available options. In the end, this is up to personal choice. There is a 5 minute cooldown between uses, allowing you to repeatability use this perk.
