Hover Scout
- This article is about the Rock Raider vehicle. For the LEGO set featuring it, see 4910 Hover Scout.
The Hover Scout is a vehicle from the LEGO Rock Raiders theme. It is a small and inexpensive craft that uses "hover propulsion technology", causing it to float above the cavern floor. It is used for long-distance terrestrial reconnaissance, and can carry a single pilot at high speeds over debris and terrain that could not be quickly or safely traversed on foot. The Hover Scout is featured in the LEGO set 4910 Hover Scout, along with Jet and an assortment of tools. Hover Scouts can be used in the video game LEGO Rock Raiders, and the game's cover art depicts Chief piloting one past a rock monster. Various books and comics make frequent use of Hover Scouts, showing them as the most common vehicle in the Rock Raiders fleet.
In LEGO Rock Raiders for Windows
In the Windows version of LEGO Rock Raiders, the Hover Scout is classified as a small vehicle, and requires only one energy crystal for power. A Rock Raider must be trained as a driver to use a Hover Scout (the game's instruction manual incorrectly states that a Rock Raider must be trained as a pilot to use it; however, in-game it can only cross land, and only vehicles that either can cross lava or can cross both land and water require the pilot skill).
The Hover Scout is the fastest vehicle in the game, with a route speed of 3 blocks per second without upgrades, and 5 blocks per second with the engine upgrade. As such, a Hover Scout can be used to help a Rock Raider travel very quickly across caverns, particularly areas covered in rubble. Unfortunately, as it is incapable of drilling or carrying, this is the extent of its usefulness; the Small Digger costs the same amount of energy crystals to teleport, can drill through walls, and, while slower than the Hover Scout, is still faster than a Rock Raider on foot.
Dependency
The Hover Scout costs one energy crystal and requires the following for teleportation:
- Rock Raider
- Level 1 Tool Store
- Level 1 Teleport Pad
- Level 1 Power Station
- Support Station
Upon telelporting down a Hover Scout for the first time, the help window will display this message:
You now have your first Hover Scout. You can use it to glide quickly across land.
Upgrades
There are two upgrades available for the Hover Scout:
- Engine: Costs ten pieces of ore. Increases the vehicle's route speed from 3 blocks per second to 5 blocks per second.
- Scanner: Costs five pieces of ore. Installs a scanner aboard the vehicle, with a scanning radius of 4 blocks.
In-game appearances
- In Search 'n' Rescue, an abandoned Hover Scout can be found at the end of the second river, on the other side of the rock wall that the lost Rock Raider is trapped behind.
- In Run The Gauntlet, the player starts off with a single Rock Raider driving a Hover Scout, which can be used to navigate quickly past the gauntlet of rock monsters until a Small Digger is found. A second Hover Scout appears in the tunnels two caverns before the cave with a lake, a Loader Dozer, and a Cargo Carrier.
In LEGO Rock Raiders for PlayStation
The Hover Scout is used very infrequently in the PlayStation version of LEGO Rock Raiders, appearing in only one mission each in both the European and North American versions. Its intention in both of these cases is to navigate through narrow land paths filled with hazards, though its sensitive controls could potentially make this frustrating. The European version's instruction manual calls it an "easy-to-handle" vehicle that "first-time pilots might find a little tricky to control."
In-game appearances
- In Web Space, the player teleports down next to a Hover Scout, which they can use to safely navigate through a maze of spider webs until they reach the Teleport Station.
- In The Last Stand and its two-player version, the player can find a Hover Scout at the end of the mission, which can be used to navigate a geyser gauntlet along a narrow stretch of land through lava, to reach the Teleport Pad at the end.
Appearances in other media
In Rock Raiders: High Adventure Deep Underground, Jet, Docs, Axle, and Bandit teleport down into the caverns of Planet U with Hover Scouts to explore. Axle lands to get a closer look around, only to get stuck in a pile of slimy slug secretion. Six slimy slugs approach and begin feeding on the Hover Scout's fuel, before Jet flies low to scare them away. The four Rock Raiders eventually find what looks like the remnants of an ancient rock monster civilisation. Later, Jet uses her Hover Scout to knock away ice monsters that are attacking Bandit's Rapid Rider, giving Axle time to save him.
In Race for Survival, Docs takes a Hover Scout and heads off on his own to look for Quadrant 14, where Axle is trapped. While exploring in Quadrant 15, magma erupted into the cavern. Docs barely manages to outrun the magma and fly his Hover Scout through a high-up opening, before warning the others that the location is an active volcano.
In the comic Planet of the Rock Monsters! from LEGO Adventures! Issue 7, Jet and Docs head across a lava river with Hover Scouts after the Chrome Crusher's engine overheat. While exploring, the two are ambushed by rock monsters, who begin throwing boulders at them.
In River of Lava! from LEGO Adventures! Issue 10, Axle and Jet go exploring the tunnels on Hover Scouts, where they find a group of rock monsters running away from an underground volcanic eruption. Axle's Hover Scout is damaged by one of the rock monsters, and he has to hold on to Jet on her Hover Scout while they outrun the magma.
Hover Scouts also appears in the mini comic books for the LEGO sets 4910 Hover Scout, 4950 Loader-Dozer, 4970 Chrome Crusher, 4980 Tunnel Transport, and 4990 Rock Raiders HQ.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Čeština | Vznášedlový průzkumník | ||
| Dutch Nederlands | Tunnelracer | ||
| Finnish Suomi | Ilmatyynyajoneuvo | ||
| French Français | Voltigeur | ||
| Hebrew עִבְרִית Ivrit |
רחפת ריגול Rakhefet rigol |
||
| Italian Italiano | Hoverboard | ||
| Japanese 日本語 Nihongo |
ホーバースクーター Hobā sukūtā |
||
| Korean 한국어 Hangugeo |
호버비행기 Hobeo bihaeng-gi |
||
| Norwegian Norsk | Luftputefartøy | ||
| Polish Polski | Skuter podziemny (set) Poduszkowiec zwiadowczy (video game) |
||
| Russian Русский Russkiy |
Вездеход на воздушной подушке Vezdekhod na vozdushnoy podushke |
||
| Spanish Español | Explorador | ||
| Danish, German, and Swedish releases left this vehicle's name unchanged | |||
- The language table above is missing information for Portuguese.
