Scout (Age of Empires)

This article is about the unit in Age of Empires. For the unit in Age of Empires IV, see Scout (Age of Empires IV).

Scout
Unit information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Cavalry Scout unit
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Tool Age
Training
Trained at	Stable
Food	90
Training time	30 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	60
Melee attack	3
Attack bonus	+3 vs Archers
Reload time	1.5
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	1
Armor class	Mounted units
Speed	1.66
Line of Sight	7

“	A light rider with a large line of sight to explore the map.	”
—Age of Empires description

The Scout is a cavalry unit in Age of Empires. It is an early, fast unit primarily used for exploration.

Gameplay

It has minimal offensive capabilities and little armor, although it is fast enough to escape combat taking little damage. Its Line of Sight is very large, making it most effective as a border patrol unit rather than being used for direct assault. It can also, at a pinch, be used as a sneak attack unit, utilising its speed to get in, deal damage and escape before reinforcements arrive, although with its lack of armor it is very vulnerable to enemy fire, especially ranged attacks. It can be trained from the Stable. The line of sight of this unit is upgraded for every age that is researched.

Players will not use the scout as their explorer until they reach the Tool Age because the players in Age of Empires do not start the game with any of these cavalry units, and instead use a Clubman or a Villager for exploring during the Stone Age. It was also the only military unit that wouldn't attack Villagers/non-military ships on his own even if diplomacy status is set to "Enemy". This was changed in update 9 in the Definitive Edition.

Since Return of Rome, in scenarios or custom maps where the player starts with Scouts, the starting Scouts have the Auto Scout feature similar to Scout Cavalry and other scout units in Age of Empires II.

Comparison among civilizations

Civilization	Fully upgraded	Lac Viet	Macedonians	Yamato	Persians	Assyrians	Greeks	Choson	Carthaginians and Phoenicians	Palmyrans and Sumerians	Romans and Shang
Food Cost	100	100	100	85	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Hit Points	69	69	60	69	69	60	69	69	69	69	69
Training Time	22.5	15	30	30	16.5	22.5	30	22.5	22.5	22.5	30
Attack	3+7	3+7	3+7	3+7	3+7	3+7	3+4	3+7	3+4	3+4	3+7
Armor	0+6/1	0+6/1	0+6/1	0+6/1	0+6/1	0+6/1	0+6/1	0+4/1	0+4/1	0+6/1	0+6/1
Extras			+2 Line of Sight Four times more resistant to conversion

Further statistics

Unit strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Villagers, foot archers
Weak vs.	Infantry, cavalry
Upgrades
Hit points	Nobility (+15%)
Attack	Toolworking (+2) Metalworking (+2) Metallurgy (+3)
Armor	Leather Armor Cavalry (+2/+0) Scale Armor Cavalry (+2/+0) Chain Mail Cavalry (+2/+0)
Line of Sight	Bronze Age (+2) Iron Age (+2)

Civilization bonuses

• Lac Viet: Scouts are trained 25% faster.
• Macedonians: Scouts have +2 Line of Sight and are four times more resistant to conversion.
• Yamato: Scouts cost -15%.

Team bonuses

• Palmyrans: Upgrades that benefit Scouts are researched 30% faster.
• Persians: Scouts are created 20% faster.

Changelog

Age of Empires

• Scouts have a pierce armour of 0.
• Scouts cost 100 food and have 8 Line of Sight.

Definitive Edition

• Scouts cost 80 food. With update 38862, they cost 90 food and have 7 Line of Sight.
• Scouts auto-attack if they have been tasked to attack, or when attacked by a non-Gaia unit.

Age of Empires: Return of Rome

• Scouts have a pierce armour of 1 and cost 100 food, gain +3 bonus attack vs ranged units, and have the Auto Scout feature. With update 99311, they cost 90 food again.
• Team bonuses added,
  • Palmyrans: Technologies benefiting Scouts are researched 30% faster.
  • Persians: Scouts are trained 20% faster.

History

“	An important innovation in military tactics was the provision of skirmish, or light, troops that scouted ahead of the main body when an army was on the move. While it was important to form solid, disciplined ranks of spearmen or other infantry for the shock of hand-to-hand combat, these dense formations were vulnerable to surprise. It was the function of scouts to keep the army commander informed of the tactical situation and locate enemies so the main body was brought into combat at the right place and time. At the Battle of Kadesh in 1275 BC, Rameses II of Egypt did not investigate reports that the Hittite army was far to the north. Instead he advanced one of his four divisions across the Orontes River and was attacked while his second was still crossing. Rameses managed to win the battle, but the lack of proper scouting put his army in jeopardy.	”
—Age of Empires in-game help

Trivia

• The Babylonians, Egyptians, Hittites, and Minoans have generic fully upgraded Scouts. The Lac Viet and Persian Scouts are fully upgraded, and both are supported by their own bonuses for faster creation.

Gallery

A trio of Scouts

A Scout in the Definitive Edition

Achievement icon

Definitive Edition icon

Tech tree

		Requires Barracks
	➞		➞		➞
				Requires Wheel	➞
					➞		➞
							➞