Narcos: Cartel Wars & Strategy: How to Scout Enemy Bases

Before deploying a single unit in Narcos: Cartel Wars & Strategy, open the scouting view to inspect defensive ranges, identify stationed Sicarios, trace natural unit pathing, and calculate your tactical strike costs. Scouting reveals whether an enemy compound offers safe entry angles or if it should be skipped to conserve squad reserves.

Follow this systematic five-step inspection routine before committing troops to a raid or Cartel War attack.

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Key Scouting Checklist

Inspection Step	Primary Threat or Target	Offensive Response
1. Artillery & Ranges	Mortars, Missile Launchers, Guard Towers	Find coverage gaps; exploit Mortar dead zones; clear isolated perimeter buildings for energy.
2. Sicarios & Boosts	Defensive Sicario posts, faction boost totems	Check trigger radii and crowd-control skills; avoid attacking into boosted defensive clusters.
3. Wall Gaps & Chokepoints	Funnel corridors, hidden cluster mines	Avoid open wall gaps; clear mines with disposable units, breach alternate walls, or redirect with Flares.
4. Gunship Energy Budget	Clustered defenses, high-health installations	Calculate missile costs to eliminate key turrets; reserve spare energy for Flares or Smokescreens.
5. Risk vs. Reward	Resource yields, base defenses vs. squad type	Skip high-risk, low-loot bases; pass unfavorable defensive layouts to Cartel War teammates.

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Inspect long-range defensive installations first, focusing on Mortars and Missile Launchers:

Exploit Mortar Dead Zones: Mortars deal heavy area-of-effect damage to clumped infantry but have a minimum firing range. Once your units advance inside this inner ring, the Mortar cannot fire on them. Check whether Mortars are buried deep behind walls or placed where units can quickly enter their blind zone.
Identify Weak Flanks: Base layouts often cluster heavy artillery toward one perimeter edge. Look for flanks guarded only by low-tier Machine Guns or non-defensive utility buildings (such as residences and warehouses).
Target Energy Generation: Deploying initial ground units into unguarded utility structures allows them to destroy buildings safely, generating the tactical energy required to support your main push.

2. Check Defensive Sicarios and Boost Structures

Stationed Sicarios and booster buildings drastically alter the durability and damage output of nearby defenses:

Check Sicario Activation Zones: Tap or inspect defensive Sicario posts to see which Sicarios are assigned to the perimeter. Defensive Sicarios can intercept your troops with crowd control (stuns, slows) or high burst damage. Note where their activation radius triggers so your frontline is not caught off guard.
Spot Buff Totems: Identify any defense boost structures or faction totems situated adjacent to core turrets. These structures increase the range, attack speed, or health of neighboring bunkers and cannons. Avoid launching a direct frontal assault into a cluster under an active defensive boost.

3. Trace Troop Pathing and Avoid Trap Funnels

Attacking units automatically target the nearest available building or follow the clearest physical path:

Beware of Wall Openings: Intentional gaps in perimeter walls are standard defensive traps. An open corridor leading toward high-value structures is almost always packed with cluster mines and covered by overlapping Machine Gun fire.
Trace the Pathing Line: Look at the arrangement of non-defensive buildings. If utility structures funnel directly through a narrow gap, your troops will naturally path into that kill zone.
Plan the Breach: If an obvious trap corridor exists, plan to trigger the mines with inexpensive, disposable units, use Flares to redirect troops around the gap, or deploy explosives against an intact wall section to create a safe, controlled breach.

4. Calculate Gunship Energy and Strike Targets

Every raid provides a set initial pool of tactical energy for gunship support, including precision Missiles, Firebombs, Smokescreens, and Flares:

Target Clustered Defenses: Look for high-threat installations placed directly adjacent to one another without spacing. A single missile strike can damage or destroy multiple structures simultaneously, maximizing energy efficiency.
Calculate Demolition Costs: Compare the health pools of critical defenses against your gunship strike damage. Do not spend energy on artillery strikes unless you have sufficient energy to neutralize the target completely or leave it vulnerable to immediate ground cleanup.
Reserve Tactical Utility: If high-threat defenses are spaced too widely for splash damage, save your energy for mid-fight utility, such as dropping Smokescreens to shield troops or Flares to bypass dangerous sectors.

5. Evaluate the Hit-or-Skip Threshold

A proper scouting phase ends with a clear decision: attack or move on.

Resource Raids: Compare the visible Cash, Wood, and Iron against the potential troop recovery cost. If a base features maxed defenses, strong defensive Sicarios, and minimal resources, pay the fee to search for a new target rather than taking an inefficient loss.
Cartel Wars: Base evaluation determines Cartel War success. If a layout counters your squad archetype—such as tight chokepoints shutting down vehicle pushes or heavy splash batteries neutralizing swarm infantry—do not risk a failed attack. Step back and designate the target for a cartel member whose roster is better equipped to defeat that specific configuration.