Scout Frigates act as very cheap information gathering units, seeking out colonizable planets early on and being used to acquire intelligence on enemy actions throughout the game. All scout frigates have the Explore ability which can be activated to automate exploration. Although weak individually, scouts are very inexpensive to build and are somewhat combat-capable in numbers in the early game. They are in particular useful against Javelis and Krosov militia, and can be used to expand quickly on maps where there is either significant distance or allies between yourself and the enemy. Be sure to turn on auto-attack if you want to use them in combat. With the addition of Mines in Entrenchment, scout frigates gained the Reveal Mines ability to counter them.