Pathfinder=Glorified scout?

errr. It seems you have no really understanding how military things even WORK.....
Given my past recon military experience let me tell you.


Why create this vacuous title when there are already plenty of experienced scouts and advanced scanning equipment?
Advanced scanning equipment and experienced scouts are normally special forces or highly trained squads of  ...... *PATHFINDERS*  it's actually a term used. other terms can have *Intel/Data/recon* Specialist/agent titles as well.   Pathfinders are normally the ones that guide everyone through dangerous terrain so the mission can be completed. These were normally point-men in Vietnam  or again Actually people called pathfinders which are also what snipers can be called shrugs.     The name has many military and civilian uses.


Why send a small team on frigate to do what a large army on an entire fleet can do far more effectively?
You don't scout with an entire army or with a huge fleet.......You spread your units and ships on smaller tasks that compound into an overall big picture. Hench small frigates with highly trained scouts with advanced scanning equipment

Why you may ask? Because a big overhead movement drives your Footprint higher more forces in your area the less effective your scouting can be done.  Counter scouting is a thing, and it's a balance in a tug of war. You want to learn as much as you can about your environment and your enemy without them learning about what YOU have.  All eggs in one basket hinder any counter missions to keep the ongoing battle in one's favour. Again Military AND civilian Scout or pathfinding is different but use highly doable by experienced military scouts.  Ryder may not be a hero yet like Shepard was from the start.  But most scouts do their job and are never hero's.  the data that Shepard or any high renown solider still needed Intel to do their job.  And guess who got that for them? The scouts if they didn't themselves.

Also, why does the Pathfinder have comparable power to the captain of the ship? They're just scouts ffs!
In terms to Ryder father. He is a highly decorated military N7 soldier that fought in the first contact war and was the first one THROUGH the first relay as far as I recall.  being N7 is like being a super bad ass mother fucker.  Being in charged and working with the founder of the initiative kinda gives him big authority over ship captains.  Captains control their SHIP.    The higher ups tell that ship where to go and what to do.   With Ryder's father being so high up in the chain of command *as well as being a scout/pathfinder* he has administrative duties ATTACHED in addition to him being just a pathfinder.

We won't know the true authority your player Ryder has until one's play through the story. But for father Ryder this all make sense.


Anyway I even signed up on this forum to give you this reply

Enjoy.
P.s In canadian army we have Corporals and MASTER corporals they are the same rank in power. One just has more administrative duties then the other. This is kinda going on with father Ryder. But again with his past he pretty high within the initiatives command when it comes to *what to do and where to go and how to get there* AKA PATHFINDING

Yes, you are wrong, completely and utterly wrong in fact. 

They are effectively the leaders of each race, representing their interests at the entire beginning of their race's future in a new galaxy.  They are the ambassador, the leader, the vanguard, the scout and pioneer.   

There is nothing vacuous about the title, so I can only assume you're either trolling or you haven't read or watched any of the Andromeda Initiative videos or information.        

If the Ryder twins represent the best humanity has to offer, humanity is in trouble.

My issue isn't with the title itself but the power/responsibilities that come with it in the game.

Instead of these roles being split between scout, ambassador, soldier, scientist etc, there's a "Chosen One" who has to do everything while everyone else sits around on the ark twiddling their fingers.

If he never reports back then what? Why put the fates of so many on the shoulders of one man unnecessarily?

Why not send out as many scouting teams as possible? That way more information can be gathered very quickly. Yes there's added risk but isn't time of the essence?

If Ryder is such a big deal with the Andromeda Initiative then why isn't he already the captain of the human ark? Why would he put himself at risk by going into the field instead of simply calling the shots from the bridge?

A lot to do like what?

The Pathfinder isn't the leader of the race. It doesn't make sense to have someone of such importance in so much danger.

He should simply be out gathering intel and reporting his findings back to his superiors. His superiors should decide what further actions will be taken.

Who said they are calling the shots?

Well they have a giant spacestation that need a lot of manpower to function.
Ressources to be generated, life that need to be sustained and science that need being done.

Seriously we saw in the game that the nexus is barely functionnal. Not enough power, not enough food and constant supervision, nobody is doing nothing. Every character you meet is busy doing a loooot of things, the pathfinder is one.
The fact that the colonizing effort turns out to be a mess does mean a lot of trouble.

You have a ton of people in cryo and eventually the power will run out and stay out. What will happen then ?
Every body need to be efficient and multi-task or they will starve, simple as that. And once again colonization and the sustain of thousands need a lot of thing to do to ensure that. Just scouting and hope someone else will do the job is not going to do it because there is nobody else that can do the job.

They do, they did.

Colonization, well kind of, happened without the pathfinder. We saw on Eos a colony with a nomad and shuttle and we know how it turned out.
The Pathfinder is a exploration team, not a scouting team.

Scout only see and report. Explorer have various task they should do first before sending anyone else. Famous explorer in our history did not scout neither send people to do it for them. They had a crew and their primal goal is to discover and interact with the new things they met.

For the pathfinder it is the same thing.
A pathfinder need to no if the planet is viable, so they need heavy gear and a science team to instantly have report. They have to check climate, wildlife, atmosphere, hazard and so on.
They are the most likely to do first contact, they should have responsibilities toward that. You don't expect a scout to be the first represent of a entire species.
A foreign planet could be extremely hazardous. Just check the first mission to see that a highly trained group hardly managed the situation. How could basic scouting do the same work. Without the pathfinder technology (ok it's plot driven but still) every one would have been screwed. A man knowing how to handle tough situation, with hard military training and extremely high-tech stuff was necessary to solve the situation.

AI is a big leap into the unknown, the role of an explorer-guide was what made the AI attractive to some. Knowing that if you leave everything behind you leave with extremely competent people to guide you through this mess.

The pathfinder was not absolutly needed. After all after the worst possible stroke of bad luck possible the nexus survived for month, but the job would have been easier if Heleus was not a complete mess and if they could have been at their full capacities. But with the current situation I agree with one of the character saying "we need a pathfinder, now more than ever" because the heleus cluster has been a freaking nightmare and the planet are so dire they need a top gear team to do the first job : ensure it is safe harbour and if it is not make it so.