Deep Rock Galactic – Scout Build Guide & Class Tips

Last Updated on June 28, 2025 by Samuel Franklin

These Scout builds and tips optimise the fast moving dwarf for solo and co-op play across hazard levels. Detailing different primary and secondary combinations these recommendations will balance mobility and firepower for your DRG preferences.

My recommended starting build is the M1000 (2/1/1/2/3) Boomstick (2/1/3/1/1) build combo with other variations detailed below based on my hundreds of Scout adventures.

Table of Contents:
– Builds Overview
– Primary Weapon Builds
– Secondary Weapon Builds
– Equipment
– Throwables
– Team Role & Tips

Best Scout Builds Overview

• M1000 & Boomstick: This beginner loadout provides a balance of long ranged fighting power and shot ranged explosive damage. It is ideal for Mining Expedition, Egg Hunt and Salvage Operation.
• GK2 & Boomstick: Focused on closer ranged weapons this Scout build is ideal for mission types where you might not be able to utilise your movement as effectively such as Mining Expedition, Escort Duty, On-Site Refining and Point Extraction.
• DRAK-25 & Nishanka Boltshark: A combination of the newer Scout weapons that offers a fast fire rates and long ranged crossbow that is ideal for Elimination, Mining Expedition and Salvage Operation.

These are my recommended default weapon configurations when using each weapon:

Primary Weapon Options:

• Primary (GK2): 2/1/1/1/3 – Balanced weapon with reliable damage
• Primary (M1000): 2/1/1/2/3 – Long ranged weapon that maximises charged shot output
• Primary (DRAK-25): 2/2/2/1/2 – Fast firing rifle with no reload

Secondary Weapon Options:

• Secondary (Boomstick): 2/1/3/1/1 – Boosts area of effect for swarm management
• Secondary (NUK17): 1/2/1/2/2 – Mitigates the ammo usage for an enemy cleanup tool
• Secondary (Nishanka Boltshark): 1/1/1/1/1 – Turns enemies against each other with pheromone darts

Other Equipment:

• Equipment (Grappling Hook): 2/1/1/3 – Optimise ammo and fall damage reduction
• Equipment (Flare Gun): 2/2/2/1 – Maximise capacity and utility
• Armour (Fox Rig): 1/2/1/1
• Throwable: Cryo Grenade or Pheromone Canister

Best Scout Builds Detailed

The Scout builds have variation available for different mission types and playstyle preferences. The primary decision is finding a weapon combination choice that meets your desired range, area of effect and utility.

Scout Primary Weapons

The Scout primary weapons are medium to long ranged focused.

Deepcore GK2: The first Scout weapon is a reliable option that can be pushed towards ranged damage or used as a run and gun option instead depending on your choice of GK2 build and overclock.

• Tier 1 – Supercharged Feed Mechanism or Gyro Stabilisation
• Tier 2 – Increased Calibre Rounds
• Tier 3 – Floating Barrel
• Tier 4 – Hollow Point Bullets
• Tier 5 – Stun or Battle Frenzy
• Overclock – Compact Ammo or Overclocked Firing Mechanism or AI Stability Engine

M1000 Classic: The DRG sniper rifle that includes a zoomed weapon mode at increased ammunition cost. Most M1000 builds seek to enhance this charged shot to ridiculous damage numbers as it plays perfectly into the sniper role it is intended.

• Tier 1 – Increased Calibre Rounds
• Tier 2 – Fast-Charging Coils
• Tier 3 – Killer Focus
• Tier 4 – Hollow-Point Bullets
• Tier 5 – Killing Machine or Hitting Where It Hurts
• Overclock – Minimal Clips or Active Stability System

Drak-25 Plasma Carbine: A fast firing rifle that trades accuracy and damage per shot compared to your other primary options. The Drak-25 does not need to be reloaded and instead uses a heat based mechanic which this weapon build seeks to mitigate.

• Tier 1 – Heat Shield or High-Volume Plasma Field
• Tier 2 – Increased Calibre Rounds
• Tier 3 – Gen 2 Cooling System
• Tier 4 – Overcharged PCF or Destructive Resonance AMP
• Tier 5 – Thermal Feedback Loop
• Overclock – Thermal Liquid Coolant or Shield Battery Booster

Scout Secondary Weapons

The Scout secondary weapons offer different effective distances with players generally wanting to pick a secondary that covers the weakness of your primary weapon.

Jury-Rigged Boomstick: Suitable for single foes or targeting weak points of larger enemies the double barrel design requires regular reloads. This weapon build is defined by tier 5 where you can add Auto Reload to remove the reload requirement, add fear utility or add area of effect to your shots with my preferences fear or area of effect as it helps Scouts deal with swarms of enemies.

• Tier 1 – Double Sized Buckshot
• Tier 2 – Double Trigger
• Tier 3 – High Capacity Shells
• Tier 4 – Super Blow Through
• Tier 5 – Auto Reload or Fear The Boomstick or White Phosphorus
• Overclock – Stuffed Shells or Compact Shells

Zhukov NUK17: These dual small machine guns are a mid range secondary for basic enemy combat encounters that can chew through ammo without the right modifications.

• Tier 1 – Expanded Ammo Bags
• Tier 2 – Quickfire Ejector
• Tier 3 – Increased Calibre Rounds or Better Weight Balance
• Tier 4 – Hollow-Point Bullets
• Tier 5 – Get In, Get Out
• Overclock – Minimal Magazines or Custom Casing

Nishanka Boltshark X-80: Added after the initial DRG release this crossbow is designed to be a single shot precision tool full of utility although is slow to reload. The special bolts you pick will alter how this weapon is used, the Fire Bolt overclock for example is ideal to handle swarms by shooting at the ground in front of them while Cryo Bolt provides a freezing tool for the Scout instead.

• Tier 1 – Pheromone Bolt or Chemical Explosion
• Tier 2 – Broadhead Bolts or Increased Quiver
• Tier 3 – Stabilising Arm Brace
• Tier 4 – Battle Frenzy or Radio Transmitter Module
• Tier 5 – Potent Special Bolts or Banshee Module
• Overclock – Quick Fire or Cryo Bolt or Fire Bolt or Trifork Volley

Scout Equipment

Scout equipment is focused on scouting the map through speed and vision with a grappling hook and flare gun to assist your allies in searching the dark caverns.

Grappling Hook: The most fun piece of equipment in DRG the grappling hook can quickly cause Scout death but with practice allows the Scout to fly circles around enemies. When new to the Scout class consider using the Hover Boots perk to save your teammates (or Bosco) from having to revive you after a falling death. Upgrades focus on extra distance and uptime as these are your biggest limits to effective use.

• Tier 1 – Longer Cable
• Tier 2 – Greater Cable Stretch
• Tier 3 – High Velocity Ejection System or Overcharged Winch
• Tier 4 – Bypass Integrity Check

Flare Gun: An overlooked utility skill of the Scout to easily locate minerals and threats when entering new dark caverns that need illumination. Mixing ammo and duration modifications provides balance on this utility equipment but players can easily focus on either depending on the mission type. For example increased ammunition is often better on maps with lots of small caves that you quickly move through while longer duration is ideal where there is less movement between locations.

• Tier 1 – Thicker Core or Expanded Ammo Bags
• Tier 2 – High Capacity Magazine
• Tier 3 – Expanded Ammo Bags or Magnesium Core

“Fox” Armour Rig: The Scouts armour has Shock Absorbers for fall damage resistance reflecting all the falls you are likely to make during your grappling hook adventures.

• Tier 1 – Improved Generator
• Tier 2 – Healthy
• Tier 3 – Shock Absorbers
• Tier 4 – Static Discharge

Scout Throwables

The Scout throwables provide utility and offer limited direct damage with their own use case for different hazard level, team setup and mission type.

Inhibitor-Field Generator: The weakest throwable option due to the small effect area although this is offset by the higher carry limit of 6. While it won’t stop a large swarm coming from multiple directions it is valuable in narrow passages.

Cryo Grenade: The cryo grenade can stop enemies and has double the effective radius of the Inhibitor-Field (6m compared to 3m). This improves viability for large swarm control with careful positioning and timing.

Pheromone Canister: A favourite Scout throwable due to the utility of the pheromone that trigger enemies to attack each other. With a total duration of 10 seconds it provides a large window to run away or revive a friend.

Voltaic Stun Sweeper: A unique grenade which will bounce between enemies while stunning and electrocuting them added in the Plaguefall November 2022 update. While a similar design to other grenade options based on ctrolling enemies the bouncing aspect is guaranteed to hit several enemies.

Team Role & Tips

The Scout is a specialist at exploring the unknown caves ahead of your team to locate and tag resources or objectives. While this makes the Scout useful in a co-op setting they are surprisingly effective with the appropriate solo Scout build that maximises their speed and self sufficient playstyle.

The Scout is a hard character to play without game experience or practice with these tips key to mastering them:

• Maximise Movement: The Scout has higher movement potential than other dwarves which makes secondary objective items and hard to reach minerals your top priority. Combining with an Engineer in particular is highly effective with platforms underneath you for high locations. Advanced Scout players can use the pickaxe power attack to dig out their own ledges high in caves but you will need to practice this grappling hook combo. As a Scout you should also deprioritise easy to reach resources in multiplayer and let your allies acquire them instead.
• Remember Your Team: Never forget that your allies do not have the same level of manoeuvrability as the Scout. Players need to stay safe when in these hard to reach locations as you cannot expect help in killing enemies or a revive.
• Perk Selection: The field medic and iron will perks are the best Scout perks given your ability to reach most locations to revive enemies while also giving you extra time to return towards allies if you find yourself in danger.
• Communicate: Communication with your team is vital as you are the extended eyes of your team, don’t forget to communicate with your team using the provided laser pointer.
• The grappling hook is more than just a movement tool and can be used offensively on the scout to move rapidly around an enemy or swarm without taking damage. This tactic can also be useful to effectively stall enemies from your allies giving them additional time to focus on other enemies.
• Maximise Attack Range: The Scout can snipe enemies with their weapons having the largest effective range of any dwarf weapon in Deep Rock Galactic. Use this to focus high priority targets from a distance before they become a threat to your allies.
• Flare Lighting: Your flare gun is critical when entering a new room or defending a location as it’s significantly stronger than the basic flares available to other dwarves.

Written by

Samuel Franklin

Samuel Franklin is the founder and lead editor of the Games Finder team and enjoys video games across all genres and platforms.

Since the Early Access days of Deep Rock Galactic Sam has been blasting his way through mining expeditions, relishing the co-operative chaos and forging dwarven camaraderie. Playing solo or with a crew Sam regularly wields the Engineer’s wrench, crafting intricate platform bridges and unleashing turret hellfire on the swarm. With hundreds of game hours and more than 500 dives into randomised caverns under his belt Sam is an experienced dwarf who continues to “Rock and Stone” in between his other video game adventures.