Spending most of their working life on point, risking life and limb disarming traps and dodging enemy patrols, it’s no wonder Scouts know the value of striking first and being prepared. All that time behind enemy lines, out in nature, and hunted by hostile forces helps the 5e Scout develop a set of useful skills.
And Scouts are darn useful in DnD. Their superior movement speed, ability to react to threats, and tendency to strike first with lethal efficiency make them serious combatants. Thankfully, backing up this martial prowess is a deep understanding of wilderness survival and all the utility of the base rogue.
This archetype has a lot of Black Company-inspired flavor, excellent synergy with its base class, and some seriously handy abilities in just about every type of campaign. No real-world military company would consider operating without their Scout – perhaps no DnD party should either!
How to Use This Guide
Everything in this guide has an emoji, ranking how useful a given ability or feature is to playing this class effectively.
✅ — An absolutely crucial feature. Often forms the backbone of a class’ look and feel. Will provide some bonus that can’t be found through other means.
🆗 — A solid feature that does its job well. Not game-breaking, and certainly replaceable, but a strong choice that shores up some weakness.
⚠️ — A debatable choice. Could work for a specific build, but otherwise is either a wasted opportunity or is just weaker than other alternatives.
⛔ — Outright bad and detrimental. This weighs down the class and just takes up space on the character sheet. A weakness you will have to accommodate for.
These rankings are meant to help you create an optimized class build, but remember DnD isn’t a game where you need to win to have fun. Weaker but flavorful builds also have their place and can make for fulfilling characters.
How To Play A Scout Rogue
The Scout shines as a fast-moving, ranged combatant with an eye for tactics and a knack for getting the drop on enemies. Their nature and survival skills rival those of Rangers,and potentially surpass them at higher levels. With their Deathstrike ability, the Scout has access to one of the best damage-dealing, high-level, non-magical attacks in the game. All this means they fulfill several key roles in-game.
Dashing Around And Setting Up Shots With Skirmisher
The Scout’s Skirmisher ability makes for some interesting opportunities. Running away when an enemy ends their turn near you doesn’t sound particularly heroic at first, but the way it synergizes with the base Rogue abilities means it’s a valuable tool for dealing ranged damage because it helps your Scout slip away from the frontline and into hiding. This ability is just as useful for avoiding damage as it is getting into the perfect vantage point and out of sight – a huge benefit to a ranged character or anyone depending on Sneak Attack for maximum damage. All of this encourages you to build your Scout around ranged weapons.
Surviving The Wilds And Ambushing The Enemy
Through their work, Scouts have developed skills to help them when out alone, ahead of the main force, and vulnerable to attack. In addition to enhanced Nature and Survival skills, these many solo experiences give the Scout mastery over ambushes. Scouts are savvy, tactical fighters, often getting the first shot in combat and making their target more vulnerable to the rest of the party. They know where their strengths lie and how to turn the tables in their favor.
Blinding Speed And Sudden Strike
Scouts are fast. So fast that at higher levels, a double attack option becomes available. This next-level swiftness is also represented by the Scout’s increased movement speed, which affects not only their base movement but also the distance they can cover using Uncanny Dodge and Skirmisher. Scouts excel at getting into position for a perfect shot and getting out of the way of incoming damage – all at a blinding pace. This increased speed can be useful during exploration, too, allowing the Scout to cover distance, gather information, and get out before they’re discovered.
🥷 Interested in playing an Arcane Trickster Rogue? Check out our article!
Scout Subclass Features
Synergy with the base Rogue abilities is high with the Scout subclass. You may be spending time at the vanguard of the party, sabotaging enemy positions and clearing the way for your allies. When combat starts, it’s usually on your terms as a Scout. Your superior stealth allows you to pick your shots, Skirmisher and Uncanny Dodge allow you to avoid damage and set up to return fire, and Sudden Strike lets you deal impressive damage on a single turn at higher levels. Combine all this with Survival skills and Nature proficiency, and you’ve got one of the scariest archetypes in the game – a kind of DnD John Rambo.
Level 1 (Rogue)
✅ Sleight of Hand
You roll a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check any time you try to plant an object on someone, pick a pocket, or hide something. A classic ability and highly useful.
✅ Expertise
Expertise gives you double proficiency in two skills you already know, or choose one proficiency and your thieves’ tools and double their bonuses. Expertise fits all rogues but is especially relevant for the Scout, who we imagine has picked up all kinds of knowledge on their travels.
✅ Sneak Attack
Sneak Attack allows you to do an extra d6 damage to a creature you hit if you have advantage on the roll, or if another creature hostile to your target is within 5 feet of it. This is often a member of your party engaged with your target in melee range. Sneak Attack is your best combat ability and makes it fun to team up with the tank in your party to focus an enemy down.
🆗 Thieves’ Cant
Your roguish lifestyle has led you to learn Thieves’ Cant. This basic language has a spoken and written component. The writing is more elementary signs than words, and can point out safehouses, caches, or danger to fellow rogues. As a DM, this can be a valuable way to breadcrumb the way to plot points or developments. As a player, it’s fun to feel part of a secret Thieves’ Guild.
Level 2 (Rogue)
✅ Cunning Action
This ability represents your quick reflexes and agility. You can take a bonus action on each turn of combat, using one of these three abilities:
- Dash allows you to cover twice as much ground as usual.
- Disengage means you can retreat from melee range without provoking an Opportunity Attack.
- Hide lets you attempt to disappear from view, potentially gaining another Sneak Attack (you must disengage before you can hide).
Level 3 (Scout)
✅ Skirmisher
When an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of you, you can move half your speed as a reaction without provoking an opportunity attack. This is useful for keeping your Scout out of harm’s way and increasing your chances of getting into cover to deal Sneak Attack. This distance is increased by Superior Mobility at level 9 and synergizes beautifully with the base Rogue abilities.
✅ Survivalist
You gain proficiency in Nature and Survival skills, doubling your bonuses to any ability checks related to these two areas. This has tons of flavor and comes into play in almost every campaign we’ve been a part of. Being the nature-savvy Scout can be fun in pure roleplay moments and for more practical survival concerns.
Level 5 (Rogue)
✅ Uncanny Dodge
Your heightened speed and reflexes let you half the damage of an incoming attack from an enemy you can see.
Level 7 (Rogue)
🆗 Evasion
You can now react to area of effect attacks by making a saving throw. On a pass, you take no damage. On a fail, the damage from the attack is halved. This stacks with Uncanny Dodge.
Level 9 (Scout)
🆗 Superior Mobility
Years of campaigning have taught you to use your energy wisely, so your walking speed increases by 10 feet. Your climbing and swimming speed also take the same increase. This applies to your Skirmisher ability and Dash.
Level 11 (Rogue)
✅ Reliable Talent
When you roll 9 or under on an ability check involving a proficient skill, it’s automatically converted into a 10 – a huge help for lockpicking and trap disarming.
Level 13 (Scout)
✅ Ambush Master
Your combat experience has taught you the value of striking first. You gain advantage on Initiative rolls. This means you get to go first in combat more often. The possibility to strike first is welcome, but the option to avoid being targeted by a hostile spell or debuff in the first round is even better. Additionally, the first creature you hit in the first round of combat suffers advantage against them until the start of your next turn. This represents your Scout’s superior tactical knowledge and talent for picking the right target to take down first.
Level 14 (Rogue)
🆗 Blindsense
You can now sense illusion magic and invisible creatures within ten feet. You must be able to hear for this to work, however.
Level 15 (Rogue)
🆗 Slippery Mind
You gain proficiency in Wisdom saving throws. This represents your years of hard learning on the job – your experience eventually adds up.
Level 17 (Scout)
🆗 Sudden Strike
Your speed has reached another level. When you attack on your turn, you can make an extra attack as a bonus action. This can be a Sneak Attack, but not against the target of your first attack.
Level 18 (Rogue)
✅ Elusive
Your roguish slipperiness in combat has become so advanced that you no longer suffer disadvantage on attack rolls against you as long as you aren’t incapacitated.
Level 20 (Rogue)
✅ Stroke of Luck
Once per long rest, you can turn a miss on an attack roll into a hit, or any failed ability check into a 20.
The Optimal Scout Build
Like all Rogue archetypes, the Scout depends primarily on Dexterity. And more than any other roguish subclass, this focus on speed and agility seems thematically appropriate. When we think of Scouts from novels, movies, and even history, they’re valued for their speed and stealth – both determined by dexterity.
Unlike many of the other Rogue subclasses, the Scout’s abilities don’t immediately suggest a secondary ability score to focus on increasing. Wisdom determines your ability with survival checks, and Intelligence determines checks related to nature – both possibilities. Wisdom seems the more useful of the two, as it comes into effect in exploration a lot more.
Ability Scores
⛔ Strength
Your Scout is not the muscle in the party. This is a dump stat.
✅ Dexterity
This is your key ability score as a rogue and remains important as you level up as a Scout.
🆗 Constitution
Important for every class. Even more important if (for some reason) you’re building a melee Scout.
🆗 Intelligence
Has some utility for a Scout as it governs their nature skills. Depends how focused on the natural world your character is.
✅ Wisdom
Wisdom is useful for all rogues during exploration. It also governs the Scout’s survival skills, so it could be an important stat.
⚠️ Charisma
Not a typical ability score your Scout will use.
Races
Elf
✅ High Elf: High elves work as Scouts for a few reasons. Their elven +2 to Dexterity and proficiency with longbows are two of the most important. The +1 to Intelligence and Wizard’s cantrip can also be put to use by a stealthy explorer.
✅ Wood Elf: The nature-loving wood elf is a natural choice for a Scout. The +2 to Dexterity, Longbow proficiency, Hide in Nature, walking speed boost, and Wisdom bonus all help with the Scout’s gameplay mechanics. Probably the most optimal pick.
Gnome
🆗 Deep Gnome: A +1 to Dexterity is a nice touch for a Scout. Combine this with superior darkvision and advantage on stealth checks on rocky ground (great if your DM uses lots of caves); the deep gnome can make for an excellent Scout.
Halfling
✅ Lightfoot: Lightfoot halflings work for just about every Rogue subclass, and this is no different. A +2 to Dexterity is very welcome for a Scout build. And movement options like the dashing to hide behind larger members of your party give you more Sneak Attack opportunities.
🆗 Stout: The stout halfling works as a hardy Scout too. Their +2 to Dexterity gives obvious benefits. Plus, poison resistance and a +1 to Constitution help just about any character build. Although the larger of the two hobbit subraces, stout hobbits still benefit from the Nimble perk – allowing them to move through the space of any creature larger than them.
Human
✅ Variant Human: A pair of +1 bonuses to apply to any ability scores of choice (one will almost certainly go to Dexterity for a Scout) and a feat at level one could be useful as a Scout. The lack of darkvision is the only drawback here.
Tabaxi
✅Tabaxi’s Feline Agility allows them to move double their speed in short bursts, further augment the Scout’s swiftness. A +2 to Dexterity and the fact that they have darkvision make tabaxi an excellent choice for a Scout. Superior climbing skills, proficiency in stealth, and backup weapons in the form of claws all have potential too.
Best Feats For Scouts
Several feats make a huge difference to your Scout’s effectiveness. Whether you choose ability score increases or these feats depends on how you want to build your character. Do you want to focus on getting key ability scores maxed out to use your existing abilities more reliably? Or do you want new mechanics to play with or the fun of unlocking a new feat that drastically improves an existing feature? There’s no right or wrong answer. But the following are feats worth considering for a Scout build.
Alert
Alert is both useful and makes a lot of sense from a roleplaying perspective. This feat represents your Scout’s heightened senses from years of wilderness survival and reconnaissance. This pays off mechanically in several ways. It gains you a +5 to initiative rolls, creatures hidden from you don’t get advantage on their attack rolls against you, and you can’t be surprised when conscious.
Elven Accuracy
Elven archers and spellcasters are legendary for their accuracy. This feat allows you to add one point to either Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma (with Dexterity being the correct pick for our Scout) to a maximum of 20. Also, whenever you have an advantage on an attack using Dexterity, you reroll one of the dice once.
🥷 Learn Further: What are the best Rogue Feats?
Mobile
Your Scout is already fast. This feat increases base speed by 10 feet, allowing you to cover difficult ground using Dash with no penalty. It also means you can’t provoke opportunity attacks in a turn if you’ve made a melee attack. This final ability is less relevant to our Scout than the previous two, but Mobile is still worth considering. The boost to speed applies to all the Scout’s movement-based abilities and can significantly impact gameplay.
Sharpshooter
The Scout’s ranged abilities can be rounded out by choosing this feat. You no longer suffer disadvantage when attacking from long range, ignore half and three-quarter cover, and can take a -5 penalty to your ranged attack roll to gain a +10 to damage. All of this is of huge benefit to the Scout, making them even more lethal from range.
Wood Elf Magic
This feat gives you access to one druid cantrip of your choice, and you can cast the two following spells without expending a spell slot:
Longstrider
You touch a creature and its movement speed increases by 10 feet until the end of the spell.
Pass Without Trace
This spell creates a veil of shadows and silence around you and your allies. Anyone within 30 feet gains a + 10 bonus to Dexterity (stealth). Additionally, they can only be detected by magical means. This spell brings the party’s stealth closer to the level of your own and can be invaluable in a tight spot.
