The Scout is a ranged class in Runes of
Magic. Your primary weapon of choice is either a bow or
crossbow.  Distance is a Scout’s best friend and given the choice
you should never melee a mob when in group.  You want them at a
distance and you want them there for two reasons.  One, you die
very quickly if the mob gets up on you and starts to hit you. 
Two, you can barley do any damage; think of the sword you carry as a
decorative piece… cause that is all its good for.

Crunching the Numbers

All Scouts start out with the same set
up stat wise.  As with all classes in Runes of Magic when you gain
levels your base stats grow at the same rate as every other Scout out
there.  The only way to truly dive into your character and make
him your own is through the use of gear, weapons, runes and the boost
you will get from your secondary class after level 10.  The
beginning stats and equipment skills for a Scout are:

Starting Attributes

• Strength: 11
• Dexterity: 13
• Constitution: 10
• Intelligence: 10
• Wisdom: 9

Starting Equipment Skills

• 1H Sword
• Dagger
• Bow
• Crossbow
• Cloth
• Leather

Venturing Into the Unknown

Runes of Magic does a solid job of
introducing you into the land of Taborea without just assuming you know
what you are doing.  They set you up first with a very quick and
easy to follow tutorial that introduces you to the basics of movement
and fighting in game.  So even if this is your first MMO game ever
or you already have a t-shirt the tutorial is worth doing for two
reasons.  One, It is amazingly quick.  You get dropped in a
little starter area where you’ll have to run to some flags, introduce
yourself to an NPC (non playable character) and kill a “boss” all of
which can be done in max time of about 5 minutes and leads you to
reason two to do the tutorial.  You get yourself a little bag of
goodies for your troubles that help a bit, a mount that lasts one day
and a +20% to all attributes which will help you get to level 10 in
about 4-5 hours of solid game play.

Once the tutorial is completed you are
back at the very same place you loaded into the game at.  As is
typical of most MMO’s of this generation you are set out on a quest
chain that kind of gives you the lay of the land and as an added bonus
in Runes of Magic, if this is your very first MMO the introductory
quest line has little tips that explain everything out even further
than the normal go here and do this description of the quest at hand.

Working through a quest chain to learn
the ropes is not a new concept but the flow in Runes of Magic is good
and you are opened up to more options in quick fashion.  For the
Scout you are going to be killing things from max range all the
time.  Your goal is to kill them before they get to you.

Killing from a Distance 101

The Scouts are among the most tactical
classes in Runes.  You will be planning every pull solo or in
group to add to your advantage of distance.  Scouts seem to be a
burst class that can kill quickly from afar.  You will rely mostly
on not being anywhere near you enemy and if they do get close you will
be running or evading and hoping that a there is a friend close by who
can take more damage than you.

Scouts need to either kill quickly or
cripple the mob so that it can be even more easily dealt with. The
longer a fight lasts the worse it looks for the Scout.  During the
first 10 levels there really was never a situation where 1 mob couldn’t
be easily handled but more than that and it was over quickly.

This is not to say that the Scout is
better off as a secondary class for any reason. The Scout has a
certain mechanic that I know will appeal to quite a few players but you
are going to have to really love range and tactical operations to get
into this class.

So if you like a challenge or just don’t
want to get near the enemy roll up a Scout and we’ll see you in game!