As it has become standard since the release of Vagrus, the team has been hard at work on another much-requested update – this time it’s scouting we’re addressing. Players have been expressing their concerns about the state of scouting for some time now, and we’re happy to announce that we think we have managed to bring it to a place where it offers a great deal to those who are willing to make use of its more niche qualities while incorporating enough concrete drawbacks that it does not become a default or even mandatory choice for vagri out traversing the wasteland.

The end goal of these changes is indeed quite similar to our aims with the recent hunting, foraging, and marching changes – adding player agency. We consider agency to be a central design philosophy at the core of all these changes and we intend to continue iterating on both present and future updates with this in mind.

Manual Scouting

So, let’s delve into the specifics of manual scouting first. Previously, players had to choose which nodes they wanted to check, allocating scouts appropriately. Now, manual scouting instead uses your general surrounding area, which can be expanded greatly if you have enough scouts at your disposal. Covering the same amount of surrounding terrain will inherently cost more if you have a smaller number of scouts, and less if you have more scouts. Let’s illustrate with a few examples. In the image below, the player is about to scout the surrounding area.

In the next example (below), the player has many more scouts to utilize, and thus, not only is the movement cost reduced, but the distance available is far, far greater.

Examining these two examples, the question quickly becomes “well, how much is it possible to cover?” And the answer is: a lot. It will cost you dearly – in more ways than one – but covering a large area can be a great way to find specific things you really need or want; for example, great hunting and foraging nodes, or combat encounters if you play an aggressive comitatus. Here is an example of a much larger area covered, shown near the outskirts of Deven.

It is also important to note that the more distance covered, the lower the chance of success becomes in general. Another large change we’ve made to manual scouting relates to the use of Resourcefulness. Vagri may now use Resourcefulness to guarantee success in one of the four categories shown above, which can be especially useful if you absolutely need to know specific results, regardless of actually failing or succeeding.

Scouting Results

When you receive your scouting results, each node will be flagged by a small banner that corresponds to an item on the scouting result list.

Below is an example of this flagging, in an instance where a large number of scouts were sent out to explore many nodes surrounding the comitatus, and where Resourcefulness was used to guarantee the success of finding Events. Looking closely, both failure and success can be seen at different nodes, but because the search for Events was bolstered, those results show even on the nodes where that failure occurred, or, specifically, nodes 54 and 59.

Additionally, from now on, when scouting in general, the results shall remain for three in-game days (or turns, gameplay-wise) on the campaign map. This allows players to plan their trips around areas that they had already scouted, consequently maximizing their returns on scouting endeavors. Simply mouse over the previously scouted nodes before the three days expire, and you can check those results again, as shown below:

But wait, there’s more!

As you have no doubt noticed, these screenshots also include Auto-scouting, which is another addition we’re excited to delve into. That will have to wait until next time, however, so in the meantime – stay safe and conquer the wasteland!

- The Lost Pilgrims Team

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