Scouts are military units used to gather information about villages. You may use scouts in two ways: offensively or defensively.
Each tribe has its own scouting unit:
- Equites Legati (Romans),
- Scout (Teutons),
- and Pathfinder (Gauls).
Scouts have no attack powers but can be sent to a village/city to see what troops are stationed there, and what resources or defensive structures are present.
To successfully scout a village/city, you must send scouts only.
Scouts can be made stronger by upgrading them in the Smithy, however any upgrades will not affect their scouting ability.
A player who is scouted on is not warned. If your scouts are not detected by the defender, he won't know he's been scouted. On the other hand, if your scouts are detected or killed, the defender will know that you have sent scouts to his village.
Scouts are also useful for defence. When your village/city is spotted by an enemy player, you can prevent it from being scouted, provided you have enough scouts stationed there. For example: you have 2000 scouts in a village. A player sends 1000 scouts to your village. Since your village has a higher defensive scouting strength than the attacker, you'll have a chance of killing these attacking scouts.
If none of the attacker's scouts survive, you will prevent any information from being returned. The defensive power of your scout can be modified with upgrades in the Smithy, by your village/city's wall and the city’s Water Ditch.
How to send Scouts
In the Map view, click on the village you wish to scout. Select "Send troops". Then under “Choose your troops”, enter the number of scouts you wish to send. When selecting only scout units, "Scouting" is the default type of attack.
Click “Continue” and you will be asked to select which type of scouting you wish to perform - “Scout resources and troops” or “Scout defences and troops”. For the scouting to work, only scouts can be sent.
The difference between the two types of scouting:
- Scout resources and troops: shows how many resources the village is holding, the number of resources protected by the Cranny (if a Cranny is built), and the number of troops present in the village (including reinforcements).
- Scout defences and troops: shows which defensive buildings the village has built and the number of troops present in the village (including reinforcements). Defensive buildings include: Residence/Palace, Rally Point, and walls.
Once you have chosen which type of scouting you wish to perform, click “Send” and the scout(s) will be sent.