How to deal with Scythers?

[EnricoDandolo]

I run Psychology, CE, CEW (Common era weapons), EPOE, Aparello
Recently after a devastating 2-scyther raid I decided that I'd ask for help.
Heres how it went
The scythers (despite saying in their description that they DON'T use cover) took cover behind a large clump of rocks in front of my sorta kill-box?
They started firing, and over the cource of two days despite me calling friendlies (And watching them get slaughtered), they stayed alive with my people suffering wounds,
and half my colony needing the "pocket pacifist medic" to hunker down in front of them with his ballistic shield and drag them to safety.
Eventually we started having to go back to the ammunition closet, grab ammo, and go back.

Imagine trench warfare, that was literary what this was like. It was a battle of 7v2 and we were losing, none of us had given any ground and we were running out of ammo faster than they were, and they were way more accurate then we were, landing atleast 2-3 shots every 12-24 hours. After we called friendlies, they all died or fled without damaging the scythers because they were slow, and didn't use covers.

Eventually we got past it once my arty-dude started landing his HE shells (After 10-20 misses in a row depleting 3/4 of our shell supply) and for a while it was good.

20 days later here I am facing a Psychic Ship Crash, and having no idea what to do since this time im coming to them, rather then the other way around.
I had no idea that they contained scythers, so I was all like "Easy, I'll just send someone over there to punch it to death" and then watched my colony go from 7 to 6 when the scythers popped out.

Any suggestions how to deal with them?
We have an AA-12 with 5 emp slugs, An LMG (not sure which), 1 anti-material rifle, 1 pacifist medic with a plasteel shield, 1 SKS rifleman.

[Shurp]

I have no idea what effect all your mods have, but I know that in vanilla it is simple to take out Scythers if your guys are behind good cover:

P[]
   #                                              S
   []

P - Pawn, [] - wall, # - sandbag, S - scyther.  The pawn will lean out and shoot at the scyther.

But your "trench warfare" description sounds like you're already doing this.  Are your pawns really bad shots?  Because it shouldn't take you 7 days to knock one down.

[Wanderer_joins]

I don't nkow either how your mod messes things up, but in vanilla you can bait them with a decoy

[Canute]

Ohh you wise people, he use CE Combat extended mod, this mod overhaul the combat. You can't compare it with vanilia anymore.

Since i don't use CE myself because it isn't compactible with serveral other weapon mods, i can't give you any hints how to deal with them. Maybe ask at the CE mod thread too.

[Razzoriel]

Yes.

- Your guns suck. Get better guns.
- Get armor-piercing ammunition.
- Use your superior volume of fire to overwhelm them.
- Get shielded colonists to stand in front of shooters. When their shield pops, run them back, wait for the shield to regen, keep shooting.
-A good sniper (10+ with/without Careful Shooter) with a good quality or better will eventually wear down and outrange the scythers.
- Only engage them if you have power armor/helmet, Crush weapons (Good+ wooden/steel/plasteel maces), and/pr trained animals with Crush attacks to distract them (muffalos/cows). The trained Boomalope charging at a scyther than exploding in his face is always pretty satisfying, but obviously, make sure the colonists are safe from the explosion.
- EMP rounds/grenades are okay, but you'll need to overwhelm the scythers as soon as they are stunned very quickly, otherwise the stun is worth nothing and they'll develop resistances.

[kubolek01]

Scyther can be easily shredded, just stun it and  rush to 2 tile distance. They are made as snipers so they can't stand bullet hell.

[cultist]

Scyther can be easily shredded, just stun it and  rush to 2 tile distance. They are made as snipers so they can't stand bullet hell.

This. Regardless of weapon mods, scythers are long-range glass cannons. If you advance on them in an open field, you will get shredded. They are highly susceptible to close-range ambushes and turrets placed in ways so the scyther can't outrange them.

[Ynemo]

u can kite them to steel deadfall traps

[Mufflamingo]

Us sniper and dont use autofire, use the aim mode just beside the reloading thingy. Its more accurate that way

[SpaceDorf]

Scyther can be easily shredded, just stun it and  rush to 2 tile distance. They are made as snipers so they can't stand bullet hell.

This. Regardless of weapon mods, scythers are long-range glass cannons. If you advance on them in an open field, you will get shredded. They are highly susceptible to close-range ambushes and turrets placed in ways so the scyther can't outrange them.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to use my standard solution

Shotguns are great agains scythers and centipedes.
Against Scythers because of the raw damage output.
Agains Centipedes because of the number of hits.
Also grenades.

And of course the latest great tip : 100 Boars.

[b0rsuk]

Scythers have terrible DPS, but individual shots are known to destroy heart, liver, pelvis, neck and other vital parts in one shot.

In vanilla, Scythers are technically capable of using cover but never use it intentionally.

[Thraxon]

Long reload, high damage. So use shield bait to absorb the shoot and if you can't destroy them until next shot, position your pawns in short range or melee it.

If you don't have shield, use your best armored pawn, elephant or pet you don't care to loose to tank the first shoot.

If you have of course, use emp grenades or mortars.
3 explosives grenades can also be a good strat.