Scouting, What line to chose?

Lert:   I will agree with the first half. Not with the second half. Whether or not arty is bad is irrelevant, but limiting yourself to never playing them means you don't know from first-hand experience what they can and cannot do.   As for proper scouting: Take it slow, OP. There is a link in my sig which leads to my collection of guides. You might find some useful tips in there.   As for what line to play: know that there are different styles of scouting, primarily active or passive. Passive scouting means sitting in camouflage near a position of high traffic where you can spot enemy tanks without being seen, active scouting means bombing around and peeking out from behind corners and / or rocks to light up the enemy and retreating to a safe place before they have a line of fire on you.   For passive scouting you need:   - Good camouflage factor. Meaning small, low to the ground tanks. - Good viewrange. - The standard go-to equipment for passive scouts would include binocs and camo net.   A good passive scout would be the german RU251 for example, though you would need to get through the not-very-popular Aufklarungspanzer Panther to get it. The Auf. Panther is definitely not a good 'passive' scout, being too large and too sluggish.   The current meta of the game is moving away from passive scouting though, every map rebalance brings less and less 'great' camouflage spots where you can sit and passive scout. As a passive scout your gun is the least important thing on your tank. In fact, firing your gun will give away your position, leading to a quick and early death.   For active scouting you need:   - Good HP / ton stat - small and light tanks with enormous engines - Good top speed and traverse stats - Good viewrange - The standard equipment for active scouts would include vents and coated optics, with that nation's food being not-a-bad-choice for consumable.   A good active scout would be the LTTB, M41 Bulldog or T54 Lightweight. All these are fast, nimble machines which can duck and dodge and weave their way around the battlefield, pop up in one spot and quickly go away again to pop up somewhere else.   Active scouting is not an easy job. You need to understand the flow of the battle, know where to go and when to go there and understand how far you can go and how long you can expose yourself without getting shot up.   Not every light tank is a scout.   T49 for example, the tier 8 american LT, is quick and nimble but not as much so as the LTTB, M41 Bulldog and T54 Lightweight. It's small and low, but not as much as RU251. So for both active and passive scouting there are better options. But it's the gun that makes it a damage dealer instead of a spotter.   AMX 13 75 and AMX 13 90 for example can scout if needed, but they are incredibly dangerous as late-game raiders, arty-hunters, flankers, etc.   For passive scouting, what would I recommend? I would recommend you not to. It's that simple. The meta is changing away from it, and unless you understand the flow of the match very well and know where to passive scout and when to passive scout there, you'll just end up sitting either in the wrong spot and scouting nothing, or in the wrong spot, getting spotted and dying.   For active scouting, what would I recommend? Russian lights are a decent choice, the line leading up to the LTTB and T54 Lightweight. Chinese scouts is also a decent choice, WZ 132 is a staple. You also can't really go wrong with the american lights, Chaffee and T37 up to the M41 Bulldog. Just don't get a T49 and expect to be an amazing scout.   For a combination scout / raider, what would I recomment? AMX 13 90 or T49 are very good late game damage dealers and raiders.