Scout (Long War)

The Scout is a unique class that doesn't have an equivalent in vanilla XCOM, combining elements of Assaults and Snap Shot Snipers. The Scout's signature ability is Lightning Reflexes, greatly reducing the chance to be hit by overwatch fire while moving. Scouts are the only class other than Snipers that can use marksman rifles, but they cannot use sniper rifles.

Primary Weapon: Marksman Rifles, Assault Rifles, Carbines, SMGs, Battle Rifles, Shotguns

Secondary Weapon: Sidearm

Abilities

Rank	Ability
Specialist	Lightning Reflexes Reduces hit chance from overwatch fire by 90% for the first shot, and 75% for subsequent shots.
	No other bonuses.[Verify?]
Lance Corporal	Damn Good Ground +10 Aim and +10 Defense against enemies at lower elevation in addition to the usual elevation bonuses (including while flying).	Holo-Targeting Shooting, flushing or suppressing enemies also confers a +10 Aim to any allies' attacks on those enemies.	Rapid Reaction Confers a second reaction shot, if on Overwatch and the first reaction shot is a hit.
	Aim +2	No additional bonuses	Aim +2
Corporal	Lone Wolf +10 Aim and Crit when no allies within 7 tiles.	Flush Fire a shot that causes enemies to run out of cover. The shot is easy to hit with, but does reduced damage.	Battlescanner Scanning device, when thrown creates a new source of vision for 2 turns. Can only be used 2 times per battle.
	'	'	'
Sergeant	Sprinter +3 mobility.	Low Profile Low cover counts as full.	Ranger +1 damage with primary weapon.
	'	'	'
Tech Sergeant	Smoke and Mirrors Allows one additional use of all support grenades (e.g. Battlescanner, Smoke Grenade) during each mission.	Tactical Sense Confers +5 Defense per enemy in sight (max +20).	Aggression Confers +10% critical chance per enemy in sight (max +30%).
	'	'	'
Gunnery Sergeant	Squad Sight Allows firing at targets in any ally's sight radius, but at -30% critical chance; Does not extend overwatch outside visual range.	Lock N' Load +1 shots/bursts in primary weapon. Reloading as first action no longer ends turn.	Resilience Confers immunity to critical hits.
	'	'	'
Master Sergeant	In The Zone Killing a flanked or uncovered target with a primary weapon does not cost an action.	Vital Point Targeting Additional 2 damage against any human target and any alien that has been autopsied.	Rapid Fire Take two shots against a single target in quick succession. Each shot carries a -15 penalty to Aim.
	'	'	'

Stat Progression

Rank	HP at level	Total HP	Aim at level	Total Aim
Specialist	0	0	5	5
Lance Corporal	0	0	3	8
Corporal	1	1	3	11
Sergeant	0	1	3	14
Tech Sergeant	0	1	3	17
Gunnery Sergeant	0	1	3	20
Master Sergeant	1	2	5	25

Tactical Advice

Role: Scout / Mobile Offense

In Long War, battlefield awareness is very important and the rebalanced ranges for weapons mean that line of sight and situational awareness is more important than ever. This is where the Scout comes into play.

Scouts have a great deal of flexibility in how they can be built. Here are some roles they can fill:

• Point-man

A major role of the Scout class is leading the charge, drawing out overwatch fire with their Lightning Reflexes so that the rest of the squad can advance. A Scout specialized in this role will be built defensively, with perks such as Tactical Sense, and Resilience. Resilience is particularly important, since some aliens have Opportunist, and even with Lightning Reflexes eventually your scout will be hit by overwatch fire. They will typically be armed with SMGs for mobility, though any weapon can work.

• Close range combatant

Scouts are mobile enough to act a lot like an Assault, getting flanks at close range even without Run & Gun. A key perk to getting the most out of Scouts in this role is In The Zone, allowing a Scout to move up to an enemy, kill them (or even several of them) with flanking shots and then move back to safety. Shotguns are the weapon of choice for this role, since failing to fully kill an enemy will cause In The Zone not to proc and leave the Scout in a very vulnerable position.

• Mid-to-long range flanker

A flanker Scout will use their mobility to move around the side and get a flanking shot at medium-to-long range, either with a Marksman Rifle or Assault Rifle. Squadsight is available to allow the Scout to use the full range of marksman rifles to make this easier.

Any of these roles can also benefit from the Scout's support perks such as Holo-Targeting, Battle Scanner and Flush.

Incidentally, Scouts also make for great covert operatives, as their wide variety of perks that increase mobility and survivability help immensely during Covert Operations against Exalt cells.