Inspired by Ilireth's thread, I thought I'd post my preferred NovaDive build. This is the default starting Scout yet also remains my favourite and most effective GSF ship by far - you don't need the fancier ships to be effective!
Its playstyle relies on a "boom-and-zoom" mentality: Speed around the map looking for targets (or getting to a satellite quickly!), kill them quickly, and then zoom away again. Its not intended to survive protracted fights - at the first sign of serious shield damage or a solid missile lock, it's time to go! You can safely retreat to recharge your shields and power pools, and come back into the fight fresh. Piloted well, it's both highly survivable and has a high damage output, and is easily capable of hitting defence turrets and capping a lightly defended satellite.
It also doesn't really adhere to the conventional wisdom of the meta. Most people expect a Scout to be built for close-range burst damage, whereas this NovaDive build excels out to 5000m and is less reliant on burst damage to get its kills. It's still partially limited by available rocket ammo, so once you run out you'll have much less damage output unless your team has reload drones, but it's still capable of killing with its lasers.
Components:
Primary Weapon: (Regular) Laser Cannon
T3 - Critical Hit Chance, T4 - Increased Shield Damage
Laser Cannons are a massive upgrade over the default Rapid Lasers, and the longest-range punch the NovaDive is capable of. The critical upgrade can dish out very nasty hits on a reasonably consistent basis, allowing the lasers to function well as your primary armament (rather than relying too heavily on a secondary). The theory with the shield damage upgrade is that the faster the shields go down, the more efficiently you're using your rockets and the quicker you deal lasting hull damage rather than easily-recharged shield damage.
Secondary Weapon: Rocket Pods
T3 - Firing Arc, T4 - DoT
These are straight-up direct fire damage. There's nothing fancy here - it's essentially just a DPS boost for your lasers, since the two are best used in tandem. Learning to hit with them can be hard for novice pilots, but only because it looks harder than it actually is - they're essentially identical to lasers in how they fire, they're just limited to a much more narrow cone which requires getting used to. The firing arc upgrade can alleviate this somewhat and make them easier to use in more difficult, marginal shots, but the extra ammo alternative could work just as well. For the T4 upgrade, range is pointless in this build since you shouldn't be firing your rockets without your lasers anyway - so keeping the two matched at around 5k range is all you need. Instead, take extra damage for even more hurt.
Systems: Booster Recharge
T3 - Regen, T4 - Engine Power Boost
The bread and butter of this build, this is the thing that lets you blast across the map and back again. You can fly around with almost complete impunity when no one can match your boost speed and duration, and properly managed, you should have engine power available for boosting available at any given moment. You can catch your fleeing kills, and escape packs of gunships or boost out of range of pesky missile locks. In short, you win (or survive) engagements because you're faster, not because you deal more damage or have more shields.
Shields: Quick-Charge Shields
T3 - Regen while damaged
Nothing special here, just a functional shield that gives you a nice boost now and then when your hull is exposed, and gets you back in the action quickly.
Engines: Koiogran Turn
T3 - Increased Engine Speed
The meta says it's for noobs, and the "pros" will tell you it's predictable and makes you an easy kill, but that's because they're stupid and don't know how to use it right. It combos with your boosting: Once you're in hot water, getting missile locks and damage that your ship can't take, a quick one-two-three of F3(engine power)+3(Koiogran)+Space(Boost) will have you laughing all the way to the nearest friendlies while you make the space cops eat bass. In rare circumstances, it can also be useful to pull a tight head-on counter pass, getting your lasers and rockets back on your opponent while he's still turning around and aiming at you. In this case, you don't use it defensively, but rather as a deliberate enhancement of the normal manoeuvres you're making as you fly.
Armour: Lightweight Armor
Evasion: A Scout's best friend. Accept no substitute.
Capacitor: Range Capacitor
This will help extend your laser cannons out to better match your rocket range, helping to synchronise your attacks so you don't have to think about them. Just fire your rockets and lasers at the same time at the same range, and voila. Damage! Also has the pleasant side-effect of giving you a surprising range advantage, which people don't expect from Scouts.
Sensors: Range Sensors
This comes down to personal preference, but I tend to stick with range on this build in order to maximise my knowledge of the battlefield.
Thrusters: Turning Thrusters
Properly managed, you already have more than enough engine power, so I take a turning boost to enhance dogfighting capabilities. The tighter your turns, the more effective you are in tight spots.
Crew:
Copilot: T7
Hull repair, plus double-rainbow-across-the-sky for your all-important laser energy? Yes pls.
Offensive: Kira
25% extra ammo for the rockets is huge, and the accuracy is also incredibly important! A must.
Defensive: Bowdaar
Extra evasion, and a little damage reduction for when you do get hit (which will be frequently!)
Tactical: Treek
360 degree sensor boost, and a dampening boost to help avoid detection.
Engineering: T-7
As above.
