Scouts in Civ 7 seem to be completely useless ???

[Mk9fOS]

Am I missing something here:

1- Scouts have no combat strength
2- Scouts have no movement advantage (2?)
3- Warriors have the same 2 movement AND 20 combat strength
4- Warriors and scouts have the same production AND gold cost
5- If all of the above is true why waste time & resources on Scouts?

Can someone please explain what I'm missing?

[NVDragon]

What you're missing is:
- The Explore action, which reveals territory around them as if they'd moved 1 space in every direction, and also reveals goody huts a little further than that
- Policy card which increases movement and vision range by 1 each
- A couple of mementos which improve scouts (there's one which improves Explore reveal range by +3 iirc, which is crazy)

[Alaric_]

Yeah, the +3 vision is amazing! After I explore I use them as lookouts. I can see trouble coming 1 to 2 turns before it gets close.

[Xenpo]

Originally posted by Alaric_:

Yeah, the +3 vision is amazing! After I explore I use them as lookouts. I can see trouble coming 1 to 2 turns before it gets close.

+3 vision is amazing, but then you are forever out a memento slot to make scouts useful. (IMO)

[Mk9fOS]

Thanks to all for the polite spanking! I did finally realize their unique importance re: view. A little weird with 2 different view expanding modes - anybody explain how those work? The description is a little too minimalist for me I'm afraid.

[DemonSlyr007]

Originally posted by Mk9fOS:

Thanks to all for the polite spanking! I did finally realize their unique importance re: view. A little weird with 2 different view expanding modes - anybody explain how those work? The description is a little too minimalist for me I'm afraid.

The Lookout mode (the first option) sets your scout up in a permanent lookout tower providing vision. It will continue this task until cancelled, similar to a "Fortify" or "Sleep" command.

The Second Option, Survey, appears to give the same vision, but it actually does a little more. It also reveals any goody huts within DOUBLE the distance of the vision that pops from surveying. This gives you targets in the fog of war to go for. It also doesn't do this action permanently like the Lookout mode: it will give you the ability to come back to them and take an action in your queue next turn.

As for when you would want to use either option: You want to use the first option when all you need is permanent vision over tiles. This is great to put on the edge of your borders for advanced info on war movements towards you, and it's also excellent on the offensive in enemy territory. Scouts stack with Generals and a troop unit, and they appear to not take up a unit slot in your general army (so you can have 5 units, 4 regular military and a scout), so they make excellent offensive tools for your invasions so you don't get surprised by reinforcements. The second ability is best used when actively scouting new, unexplored tiles. Use it when you have One movement left and you will get a head start on the next turn and your scouting.