Less than a week after I wrote this Ranger guide, a number of changes that were in testing went live, and rendered complete sections of this guide obsolete. And while there are some changes currently on Test Center that will again alter our profession, I think now is as good a time as any for version two of this guide.
As with my previous guides, I hope that the tips, tricks and hints that I've provided here help you as much as they helped me. My sincere thanks and appreciation goes out to all of the members of the Scout and Ranger community, whose ideas and tips are liberally sprinkled throughout this guide. Even though my name is on the top, this is a work of our entire community.
Despite the common misperception, Rangering is definitely not Scouting version 2. While some of the old tips you read in my previous guides still hold true, there are many new facets to the Ranger path that make those old Scouting ideas obsolete. So be prepared to change your strategies, and throw out any old ideas that just don't work anymore.
As with any profession, the Developers are working tirelessly to address bugs, tweak and balance all of the professions (there is a big patch slated to go live on October 8, actually). This guide is as up-to-date as it can be as of October 6, 2003. As changes are made, I will do my best to keep the guide updated.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let's get to it.
THE BASICS - GETTING NOVICE RANGER
Rangering is an elite profession. It's going to take time to master, and lots of hard work. Know this going in - while you may have made Master Scout in two weeks, unless you have no job, no life or never sleep, it will take you much longer to hit Master Ranger. So while you need to monitor your XP and set personal goals for yourself, don't set them so high that minor setbacks (like a rollback, or RL issue) frustrate you.
Now that you've decided to take the plunge and become a ranger, the first thing that you need to do is to visit a Ranger trainer. Like any "novice" profession, you cannot be trained as a novice Ranger by another player. You will need to visit a Ranger trainer and pay the 5000 credit fee.
The unfortunate thing is that Ranger trainers are rare - there are generally only one per planet. I have located trainers in the following locations:
Once you are trained in novice, you can be trained by other players for all other levels, including Master Ranger.
ASSUMPTIONS
First, I'm going to assume that you've read my previous guides and are a Master Scout. If not, you're in the wrong spot. Visit the Scout forums or check SWG Allakhazam or SWG Warcry to read my previous guides. They'll set you up with the fundamental information you need to master the Scouting profession, the primary prerequisite for Ranger.
As our primary means of gaining XP, we've needed to camp, kill creatures and harvest them, and trap them as well. This requires us to have combat training. For the purposes of this guide, I am going to assume that you have reached the "master" level in at least one tree of the Marksmanship or Brawler lines, and have qualified for the Novice level of an elite combat skill. These novice levels include Pistoleer, Carbineer, Rifleman, Teras Kasi Artist, Swordsman, Fencer, and Pikeman.
You can also have worked on Creature Handler as well, to compliment your combat skills. A non-elite combat skill person who is well on the way to being a Master Creature Handler has good, if not better, striking power.
If you have not done this, your path to Master Ranger will become exponentially hard. While (using mask scent only) it is theoretically possible to be a peacenik Ranger, it will not only take you 5.6 gazillion years, you'll also never get the Trapping you need to make Master. You need a combat skill, and you need to work on it.
I'm also going to assume that you have a good weapon. If you don't, get out and make some money and get one. Read the galaxy forums and learn who the best weaponsmiths are and get out to their shops. Once you get that good weapon, find a trustworthy Master Smuggler and get it sliced. The harder you hit, the faster you can kill and harvest your prey, and the faster you'll go through the trees.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE RANGER TREES
There are four trees in the Ranger profession, and they are roughly analogous to the Scouting trees. I will outline them here to make it easier:
As it was with Scouting, Wayfaring and Tracking both use "Scout" XP. Frontiering uses "Survival" XP, and Advanced Trapping using "Trapping" XP.
END PART 1
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
TACTICS - WHAT SHOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY FROM SCOUT?
This will be the absolute hardest part - unlearning all that you have learned. While many of the same things that were important to Scouting are important to Rangering, you'll need to adjust many of your tactics to advance quickly through the Ranger trees. Some of these changes in tactics include:
1.) Groups are your friend: It was advantageous for you as a Scout, to go solo. You could make good XP over time on your own. This changes dramatically when you hit Ranger. The same creatures that you were killing before aren't going to hack it at this level. You'll need to be hitting the higher level creatures. Whereas you ran Gnort missions before, you need to run Kaadu missions now. The downside is that these harder creatures, while giving more XP and material, are harder to kill. That equals "longer to kill". And the key to mastering Ranger is to make sure that your average XP over time stays high. When soloing, always balance out the level of XP you gain from killing a critter with the time it takes to do it. Sure, you can kite Bell Bolle's and clear out a nest in an hour - but how many gnort lairs could you have harvested in that time?
That's why groups are your friend: The extra people in the group help jack up your XP over time exponentially. Having one or two friends with you who are at least novice elite combat players can boost your speeds to the point where killing the larger creatures is more effective than going solo. For instance - a group of 5 of my follow PA members got to the point where we were able to take down Fambaas on Naboo is 30 seconds. Assuming 15 Fambaas per lair, with each giving 440 XP per harvest, I was able to haul 6600 Scout XP in less than ten minutes. You can triple that number in terms of Trapping XP, so long as you have enough time to hit with each of your traps. So finding a group of friends willing to group with you is a fundamental strategy that is different from Scouting. Also remember that while the 60% rule has been implemented (reducing your harvests by 40% while grouped), this has no effect on the amount of XP you get from harvesting the creature. So now your friends have a greater incentive to group with you - they get the harvestables too (as long as they are Scouts, of course).
Groups are also very effective in getting your Frontiering XP up. While there have been changes that make this easier (crafting camps and traps give survival XP now) for the solo Ranger, the quickest and simplest way is to camp often with the group that you are in. A five or six person group can help a Ranger get the full amount of XP in less than 5 minutes of camping - even with full HAM bars. This can take a lot of the frustration of camping away.
So if you've been a reclusive hermit, now's the time to get out and make some friends.
They'll be important to you as you move up.
2.) Join (or start) a PA: This is a personal tip that I have found works wonders. As one of the leaders of the Tarkin Memorial Brigade, I am frequently writing emails, coordinating membership plans and events, and responding to constant /tells in game. One of the easiest things to do was to grind out my camping XP by sitting in camp and doing the "administrative" work. That way I'm not wasting any time - I'm getting XP and getting my PA stuff done at the same time. In addition, holding group "meetings" in your camps is another way of getting XP quickly. Our Joint Chiefs of Staff (our executive board) meetings are usually an hour long, and in that time I could make upwards of 10k worth of frontiering experience. Joining a PA is also a good idea as it gives you a group of friends who have an incentive to hunt with you and help you level. The Ranger community is working to set up an "Antarian Ranger" Player Association on each server, made up of only other Rangers. If you haven't found a PA that is looking for members to join, you should definitely check them out.
3.) Don't bother with forage (to often) for now: Unless you decide to become a fisherman (or a CH), foraging for goods now is a bit of a waste of time. When you were scouting, you didn't have a lot of money to waste on "food" type buffs. Now that you are higher up, with a bigger bankroll (thanks to those new monkey making opportunities. ), you can afford to splurge on food buffs. The only foragable item that you will still need is bait for fishing or food for your pets. If you want buffs that last a long time, visit your local Doctor or Chef.
4.) You'll need to start dropping your excess skills: As a Scout, having novice Entertainer, novice Artisan and novice Medic were key - you were usually soloing, so you needed to be able to do everything by yourself. Now that you are a Ranger, you'll be grouping more often, and can start to rely on others for the healing and materials that you need. You are also going to start facing the problem of skill points - you're going to run out. As a Ranger, you'll need your combat skills far more than you'll need your medical/entertaining/crafting skills, so dump your excess skill points into mastering your combat profession. Make friends (or do what I did - marry one ) with a good entertainer or medic, and be sure to have them in your groups while you are out hunting. The order that I dropped my excess skills was Artisan, then Entertainer, then Medic. This is why joining a PA, or finding a good core group of friends with diverse skills is key.
WHAT PLANETS SHOULD I HUNT ON?
The starting planets remain good choices for soloing, and the all have their "elite" level creatures that give good Scout and Trap XP, like Tortons on Rori, or Fambaas on Naboo. These will be your fallbacks when you can't find a group to go off planet.
You really should be concentrating on the upper level planets now. Lok, Endor, Dathomir, Dantooine, Yavin 4 - you should become intimately familiar with each of these planets. They each have a diversity of creatures, as well as massive amounts of them. You will also find the higher level missions on these planets, and the payouts are outstanding - generally 10k - 20k credits per destroy mission.
I have grown fond of the Tortons on Rori and the Snorbals on Lok (although Snorbals are much harder to find now). Both are large creatures that give good XP, are slow enough that you can generally outrun them, especially if you are using an Adhesive Mesh or Phen Dart that will slow them down, which makes them solo capable. With a mix of traps, warning shot, stopping shot, or surprise shot (if you have them), you'll be able to solo these critters if need be. Always keep in mind the XP over time rule, but if you want a challenge with a good reward (and some good harvests) these are the way to go.
Groups will do especially well on planets like Dathomir and Yavin 4 where most of the creatures are aggressive, and many are social.
END PART 2
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
While each of the individual combat skills has its benefits and drawbacks, I personally feel that as Rangers, the best compliment to our unique set of skills and attributes is the Rifle combat skill.
I know this is going to PO the Carbineers and Pistoleers (and the redheaded step children of our class, the Melee-ers) but here is my reasoning. First, rifling compliments maskscent much more than the other two skills. When attacking a critter at long range, using your rifle and maskscent, you can generally cripple a high level creature (even one with high hams) at long range before they realize they are getting hurt and figure out where you are. From a role-play point of view, how many master hunters out there go out into the woods bear hunting with their trust 9mm? Not many (at least, not many that have come back.)
Now, of course, there are downsides to each combat profession. Rifleman can't hit the broadside of a barn from less than 5 meters, so you better keep that creature away from you, or you're Bantha poodu. Using warning shot will help this process. Rifle speed is always a problem, so overcome this by using bleeds (mindshot 1 and 2) and getting multiple crates worth of speed powerups for your weapon.
I must also advocate strongly that you pick up two-handed sword as a backup to your Rifling. Now be forewarned - doing this will cut down on the skill points you have, and will make it impossible for you to master a combat profession, but the added power that I have more than makes up for it. A good, pre-sliced Power Hammer (the elite weapon of a Swordsman, which does Blast Damage) can hit harder than a T-21, works well a close range, at better (or comparable at worse) speed AND it hits for Blast Damage. Swordsman specials allow you to choose between hitting health/action and mind, meaning that you can aid your Pistoleer and Carbineer friends, or finish up what your rifle started. I strongly urge you all to consider picking up Swordsman as well as Rifleman. At worse, your two-hand sword hits the mind pool with some of its specials, so it can help for the in-close battles you'll get if your rifle doesn't get the job done at range.
For those of you who like to solo, for right now, Pistoleer is the best combat profession for doing so. With pistol whip and stopping shot, you can render most creatures defenseless and your weapon speed can make quick work of even the toughest critters. Now that KD is being returned to usefulness, I expect that more and more Rangers will be coupling this skill with their Rangering.
Melee masters have the hardest time with Rangering, but can be soloers with almost (arguably more) as much power as a Pistoleer. While they lose out on the usefulness of masks cent and conceal, and they do not currently benefit from the to-hit bonus that ranged Rangers get as they work their way up the Tracking tree, they can hit for significant power. So my suggestion is that having a melee skill be a backup to your primary combat skill - that way you have the option of being both ranged and in-close, as need be. This is a strong suggestion.
THE QUICKBAR AND MACROS
Your quickbar should remain primarily the same as it was while you were focusing on Scouting, but keep in mind that you have a number of new skills coming that way crowd out slots that you had previously assigned on the bar. Changing quickbar placements is one of the absolute hardest things to do, because untraining yourself of the reflexes that you had for so long while mastering Scouting doesn't come easy.
One of the most useful macros I've ever made (besides the harvesting one that I outlined in my scout guide) was my rifle macro. It is very simple:
/mindshot1; /mindshot2; /headshot3
This hits the three shots that I typically use in each battle, whether against a critter, NPC, or in PvP. It saves me the time of doing this, and clears up a quickbar slot or two. I still have /headshot3 on the bar for single use and for cleaning up anything that the macro didn't take care of, but this has sped up my attack ability significantly.
For those non-riflemen out there, figure out what the three things you do most frequently are in battle and create a macro for them. It'll make life much easier.
Check my From Novice to Master Scout guide for macros for using traps.
Now that you are probably going to taking out higher level critters, it's a good idea to add a /loot command to the end of your harvesting macro. This way, in the event that the creature drops an armor segment, or some other interesting and valuable bit of loot, you'll catch it when you harvest them.
TIPS AND TRICKS ON GETTING XP
Scouting XP
I've outlined a number of good tips above in the other section on "tactics". The #1 thing you must keep in mind while getting Scout XP is the concept of XP over time. You need the highest average XP over time that you can get. If you can get this in a group, group. If you can get it solo, get it solo. But always be figuring out what will give you the most bang (XP) for your buck (time).
I won't go into specifics here on what creatures to kill, or where to find them. As Scouts you should already know the best critters for getting XP and where to do it. That's part of what scouting is - the minor leagues. As a Ranger, you're in "the Show". Put those scouting skills to good use. Good hunting.
Trapping XP
The tactics you will use (for right now) are the same as you used when you were a Scout. Throw every kind of trap you have at every creature you attack. Period. That's the best way to get it up right now. In a group, let your buddies to the killing, while you stand back and throw traps all day. They'll take the aggro, you get the trapping. Fambaas and other high level critters give 400 or so XP per trap that hits, so if you are grouped up and safe (relatively), you can make your XP very, very quickly. It took me two days of hunting with my PA to reach Trap Master.
Please note: There will be an entirely redesigned Ranger trapping skillset, that will include stationary traps. These are not ready yet, but should be added to the game in the future. They will require different strategies, which I will post in upcoming editions to this guide. Your Scout traps will still work, but you will also get a number of new traps including:
Heavy Claw Trap - In order to use this trap, you'll need to draw a creature across it. When the creature draws near enough, the heavy claw trap snaps shut, rooting the creature. The stronger the creature, the more likely it will eventually work itself free.
Lure - A lure can be filled with meat or greens to attract nearby creatures. A creature who detects a lure might break off from its packmates to inspect it.
Tripwire - The tripwire trap can be laid against NPCs as well as creatures. A target who runs across the tripwire will be knocked on his back for a short time.
These new traps will provide a new layer to the trapping field, and should help add a new contrast between Rangers and Scouts.
Survival XP
It takes a while. We know. It also uses up significant amounts of resources. But camping is a vital part of the Ranger profession, and one of the few things that makes us stand out significantly from all of the other professions. Your Field Base and High Tech Field Base camps not only look great (women swoon over them), they also provide good regen rates and crafting tools for your artisan/medic buddies.
I've already outlined in the above "tactics" section some good tactics for survival camping - groups are great, and doing other things while camping, like reading the Ranger boards or emailing friends/guildmates, and crafting more camps and traps (which also generates XP) will help pass the time.
Here's another tip - camps provide XP faster when you are healing within them. So the best way to get to your XP cap on your camp is to get hurt. You can do this any number of ways (including fighting creatures or dueling a buddy), but if you are solo, the best thing to do is practice your tumbling. Setup "tumble to kneeling" in your quickbar and click it, then stand up, and repeat it. This will knock your action bar down very quickly, allowing you to either heal it with a stim (and get the XP), or let it go over time (and get the XP). Either way, it'll give a quick boost to your XP for that camp.
There have been a number of macros that have been developed to allow for AFK camping. Some work better than others, but they are all a violation of the EULA - so don't use them. I don't want any of my Ranger and Scout buddies getting in trouble for that. If you do use them, make sure you are at your computer.
END PART 3
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
Intrepid Scout Degasai wrote this how-to for fishing. Since fishing now provides Survival XP, I thought there might be a need for this to be added to my Ranger guide. So if you see him, buy him a beer.
What do you need?
You need a fishing pole and some bait. You don't see many fishing poles on the bazaar, so you'll either need to make one yourself or find someone else to make one for you. The best fishing poles are made by using the Weapon, Droid and Generic Item crafting tool. If you can use a high-quality tool (12% +), all the better. This, of course, requires you to have artisan training, but we have been lobbying to change this to a Scout craftable item.
In order to make the best pole, craft it near a stationary Weapon, Droid and Generic Item crafting station. This allows you to experiment during the assembly of the pole. Checking the schematic for fishing poles, I find that the only material statistic that matters is toughness. The pole itself requires inorganic resources, metal, and chemical. Find materials with a toughness rating as high as possible that fit into these categories. Then experiment as you make them. Keep going until you have the best pole you can make. I would recommend 80% or better. However, you can succeed at fishing with a much lower quality pole.
You can either buy bait on the bazaar, or forage for it. Foraging is kind of hit-or-miss. Usually, foraging turns up food items. But, if you keep at it long enough, you will eventually find worm or insect bait. Once you start fishing, bait should not be a problem. Just filet your catches, and you will soon be destroying all the excess "chum bait" you get from that process. As far as I can tell, the type of bait makes no difference to the size of your catches or the types of fish you catch.
Where should I fish?
Well, find some water (duh)! Seriously...I usually fish just NW of Coronet on Corellia, in the first stream you encounter. However, any river, lake, pond or ocean will do. Look for small schools of fish jumping in the water. Once you start fishing, the fishing pole interface will come up automatically. There are two important ratings on that screen: fish concentration and vegetation concentration. These are rated in stars (*****), and will range from 0 to 5 stars. The best fishing spot would have ***** fish concentration and no vegetation.
If you are lucky, you will find a spot next to the water where you can set up a camp and still be able to cast into the water and fish. This maxes your gain in Wilderness Survival XP. If you can't find a spot like that, I find I have the best luck wading out into the water and stopping right before it gets so deep you have to swim.
How do I actually fish?
OK, you've got your pole. And you've got some bait in your inventory. First, let's set up some hotkeys. Two are all you'll really need. In the first hotkey (I use F1 in the first slot on the #5 hotkey bar), make a shortcut to your fishing pole by dragging it's icon from inventory and dropping it into that slot. In the next slot (F2), you need to make a simple fishing macro. To do this, click CTRL+A and then the "Macro" tab. Click "New Macro". Choose an icon for the macro, and then, in the text window for the macro, type "/fish" (without the quotes). Name the macro "Fish" or "Cast" or whatever. When you're done, drag the icon for this macro up to the F2 slot. This will keep you from having to open your inventory every time in order to "Start Fishing".
Once you are in a spot you like, open your inventory and drag the bait onto the pole icon. Drop it onto the pole to load it up with bait. Close your inventory, and face toward the water. Click F1 to equip your pole, then F2 to cast your bait and begin fishing. Once you have cast into the water, wait a second and you will get the fishing interface window (a small window with information about the spot where you are fishing, and commands to operate the fishing pole). The first time the window pops up, the activity will show "Waiting". Do nothing at this point. In a couple of seconds, that window will disappear, and then reappear...usually with the activity now at "Nibble" (if you are in a decent spot).
Once you get a "nibble", you need to take action. If you do nothing, you will never catch a fish! The screens usually only last a few seconds, so you will need to be paying attention, and click rather quickly. When you get a nibble, click on one of the available actions, and then IMMEDIATELY CLICK OK! If you don't click OK, you won't do anything! The available actions are:
Tug Up Tug Right Tug Left Small Reel-in Stop Fishing You can get any number of opinions what to do at this point. Here's what I do:
When I see "Nibble", I immediately Tug Right. Once you click "OK", this screen disappears. When the screen reappears, it will usually say "Nibble" again. At this point, I do nothing. Generally, the next screen will say "BITE!". When this appears, I immediately "Tug Up". More often than not, the next screen will say "CAUGHT SOMETHING?!" At that point, I click "Small Reel-in", and the process of reeling in the catch begins. Don't forget, every time you choose an action, you MUST click "OK" in that window.
What kinds of fish can I catch?
So far players have only found 7 kinds of fish, no matter where they have gone. They are:
Laa Faa Striped Fish Blackfish Bluefish Ray Blowfish
How much Wilderness Survival Experience do I gain from fishing?
This is dependent on two things: The type of fish you catch, and it's size. I've made some notes on my most recent fishing trips, and here are some figures (Keep in mind, I'm only at Survival II currently):
Laa: .30 m, 54 xp *** .48 m, 86 xp Faa: .25 m, 55 xp ***.44 m, 98 xp *** .52 m, 117 xp Striped Fish: .48 m, 78 xp *** .60 m, 99 xp *** .68 m, 112 xp *** .71 m, 115 xp Blackfish: .31 m, 46 xp *** .41 m, 62 xp Bluefish: .25 m, 56 xp *** .48 m, 109 xp *** .51 m, 114 xp *** .55 m, 124 xp Ray: .57 m, 125 xp *** .63 m, 125 xp Blowfish: .13 m, 57 xp *** .14 m, 62 xp *** .24 m, 101 xp *** .28 m, 128 xp
As you can see, the best fish to catch would be a whopper Blowfish. However, they are generally smaller than the other fish species. As you gain in Survival levels, you should expect to see the average size of the fish you catch increase, thus yielding greater amounts in WS experience gain. Ideally, the relative gains in experience should remain the same, when taken as a percentage of the amount remaining until you gain your next level in the Survival skill tree. At any rate, this is probably way more information than most people want to see
Can I make any money by fishing?
Sort of. Bioengineers are always looking for fish for their high end pet stims, so they are always willing to buy fish in bulk. There is also a new market for fish as decorations, so be sure to check and see if anyone is buying this on the local bazaar. The only problem is that its very difficult to get large quantities of fish - even in the most active fishing holes. So you may be able to find more mon(k)ey making opportunities that pay more for less work that make this a less than attractive proposition.
What else do I need to know?
Just one thing, that I can think of. If you need scouting experience, find a good fishing spot near some hostile (red) creatures. Enable masks cent while fishing, and you can gain Scouting xp at the same time. Just make sure to put a weapon into one of your hotkey slots, so you can switch quickly when a creature breaks your mask scent and attacks you.
WHICH DO I TRAIN FIRST? WAYFARING VERSUS TRACKING
In my Scout guide, I always advocated going up the Exploration tree first. The bonuses to burst run, terrain navigation and the addition of maskscent were just too tempting to pass up.
But this ain't Scouting any more.
Wayfaring doesn't provide the same level of skills to a Ranger as Tracking does. While Warfaring does grant a terrain movement modifier (which only affects your crawl speed), and the /conceal ability, the creature to-hit bonus, as well as the increased creature knowledge, creature harvesting ability, and the /areatrack skill make Tracking the better alternative for Rangers. Train it first.
END PART 4
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
Despite near constant attention from the Devs, mask scent remains by far the most controversial skill provided to us. Across the board, Scouts and Rangers all seem to have varying levels of success. Let me give you a little background on mask scent and how it works.
Mask scent is based on your Mask Scent modifier. It originally was based on your camouflage modifier, but this was changed as of the new addition of the Ranger skill /conceal (which now uses that modifier). The equation takes into account your MS modifier, your speed (whether walking, prone or running) and the relative creature level of the creature who is trying to detect you. So as your MS modifier increases (with each level of Exploration), your chances of successfully getting XP and staying safe with mask scent increase. But it is also important that you are around creatures of a similar level to you. A novice scout running around on Dathomir is going to complain loud and long that his mask scent is useless and doesn't work, while an almost-Master Scout will be running around Lok doing the bunny dance because he's almost levelled and not had to do anything for it.
If you are having difficulty with mask scent, try two things - first, use it against creatures closer to your level, basically meaning ones that you would have odds on actually defeating if they attack you. Second, change your speed. Going prone and walking both modify your mask scent prospects by between 5%-35% over running. Slow down, creep slowly and you'll start seeing some XP spam on your window. Also keep in mind that the larger the group of reds, the more likely it will be (statistically speaking) that your mask scent gets broken. Each time you get within the striking range of a creature (based on their ferocity) you will be “checked” to see if the creature broke your mask scent. 10 creatures mean 10 checks, and with the bit of randomness that is added in to account for luck, you may just get sniffed out - even against low level creatures like Kreetles.
So what’s so controversial about the changes? Well, a number of things - depending on your point of view.
Mask scent was tweaked to make it less likely to be broken, with the offset of being decreased XP awards and the likelihood that a creature breaking your mask scent will attack you. This has met with mixed reviews from the community, especially as the “big update” from early in September left mask scent bugged - it was TOO useful, never breaking, but never providing XP. Now it is breaking again, and with the addition of the creatures attacking, it has come under continued complaint from many members of the community.
However, the changes weren’t all bad. Mask scent can only be broken by red (aggressive) creatures now - yellow (non-aggressive) creatures have no affect on it. Further, the timer that was implemented is now tiered, so that the higher you go up the exploration tree, the less time it takes to be able to remask your scent after it has been broken. Master Scouts only have to wait 15 seconds to use mask scent again
The community is still working to determine if there is a bug in the code, or if it needs further tweaking. But the skill has come a long way from its originally implementation in late June.
CONCEAL
This, like mask scent, is a very controversial skill. Some Rangers love conceal, some think its absolutely useless. Others, like me, have had mixed experiences. But here's some info on how it works.
In order to use conceal, you must have a conceal kit. These are made using harvestable materials from the planet you are making the kit for - each planet has a different kit. Here are the requirements for each conceal kit, by planet (Thanks to Dashida for compiling this)
As of this moment, the floral requirements remain in the kit recipes. This will be changing as soon as the current changes on Test Center go live (probably tomorrow). The changes drop the floral requirement.
Conceal kits can also be applied to non-Rangers, in order to give them a benefit similar to mask scent. The kits will work slightly less effectively than they will on you, but they will grant you usage XP - each successful check on a group mate you've concealed will grant you XP. This is very useful on higher end planets like Yavin 4, especially in large groups.
RESCUE
This is an interesting skill, as it is both loved and hated by members of our profession and many others (this one's for you, Mr. Bounty Hunter man).
Using it lets you shift the target of an attacking creature or NPC (or even another player) away from their current target and onto you, if it is successful. It does cost a bit of mind to do this.
Generally, this is another underutilized skill, as most rangers aren't going to be able to tank very long against a creature or NPC that's womping on their buddy. But it can be very useful in meeting women (thank you for /rescuing me! /kiss)
END PART 5
Message Edited by DeltaXi65 on 03-03-200403:43 PM
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
These are the two new commands that are revolutionizing the Ranger profession. /areatrack is in the game now, and /track will be added to the profession in time.
Areatrack allows you to search an area to determine what kind of animals, NPCs and other players are in the vicinity. Areatrack's range is limited 500m. You must be standing still in order to use it. As you move up the tracking tree, you get the ability to search for animals, then NPCs, and finally other players.
What will areatrack tell you? It will tell you the name of the creature, the distance and the direction. After that, you've got to head in that direction and use it again, until you get within visual range.
What will areatrack not tell you? It won't give you a waypoint. It won't let you search for a specific creature, NPC or player.
These two specific functions will probably be found when the /track skill is added. This is currently still in development, and we do not yet have an ETA on these changes.
There is already a movement to "hire" out Rangers to find certain hard-to-find creatures, like Kimogilas and Krayt Dragons. I often get /tells when I am on Tatooine asking if I am available to track some critters. While I have not yet seen a pricing scheme set up, this could be the start of a good money making opportunity.
WEAPONS AND ARMOR - WHAT SHOULD I GET?
Again, this depends upon your combat class and your goals. Weaponry is simple: get the best that your class can use, and get it sliced. Keep an eye on the min/max damage, the armor rating and the speed. And be sure to get as many power ups and you can carry. Min/max and speed/min are the two flavors most popular.
For Armor, generally stick with Mabari (for kinetic damage) or go to a higher end set like Composite, but only if it has good encumbrances (the lower the better) and can protect well against kinetic damage - animals don't shoot at you.
Always keep in mind that just because it's "Composite" or "Ubese" doesn't mean that it's better than a lesser armor. Always look at the attributes. A very well made set of Mabari is significantly more useful than a poorly made set of Composite.
MON(K)EY MAKING - HARVESTABLE MATERIALS AND THE NEW MISSION TERMINALS
You are going to need a significantly larger amount of money as an elite than you did as a novice. Rangering, in and of itself, isn't expensive, but the finer things in life are. The basic equipment you'll want - cool threads, a good gun, and a good pack can cost a considerable amount of money. Throw in PA dues, houses, harvesters, food, furniture, travel expenses and other non-essentials, and you'll be blowing through the dough. You need to get some solid monkey making opportunities going on (if you don't get this joke, check the Scout forums...).
First, sell sell sell those harvested materials! Nearly 1/3 of the professions in SWG need either hides, bones or meat, and the better the quality, the more money you can get from it. Searching out higher quality goods is a necessity. While you can never know for sure what will give you the best material (it shifts, just like static resources do), you should always be checking the overall quality of the hides that you harvest, and be sure to "farm" an area with the best hides, as they will give you the most XP.
The new Explorer mission terminals are excellent - they provide us with a monetary incentive to do the things we already do. Some of them can be very tough, but they can also be a great way to get out and see the planet. There are two types of missions - hunting and recon. Recon is exactly what it sounds like...you get paid to take the mission and run out to the Waypoint. Once you get there you are successful and get the cash award. Generally these missions are 3k to 5k away from where the terminal is, so expect a good hike. The hunting missions are much more difficult, but provide better compensation. They require you to kill between 15 and 45 of a certain type of creature. Be careful: they are EXTREMELY specific. If you get a mission to kill Spineflap Soldiers, you can kill Spineflap Guards until the cows come home and you won't get any credit. They HAVE to be the same critter the mission calls for. Each time you kill one, you'll get a spam letting you know how many more you need to kill to complete the mission. The other difficulty is that you don't receive a waypoint for the mission - you need to find the creatures yourself.
The higher end hunter missions can go for 10k credits and above...so while they are time consuming, they also are very lucrative. And keep in mind - these are EXPLORER missions. They aren't designed to make you money quickly. They're designed to get you out of the cities and into the world for extended periods of time. A difficult Hunting mission could take two or three days worth of hunting to complete. So if you are looking for a quick buck, run some destroy missions - don't go looking for high credit Hunting missions.
UPCOMING CHANGES TO RANGERING
Some of the changes and new additions that I've outlined here are in progress. As the developers continue to focus on balancing out all of the professions, we can expect to see even more changes to make this great profession of ours even better.
Some of the more commonly requested changes (in no particular order) include:
1.) Top level Ranger camps healing Battle Fatigue (with a Master Entertainer present) 2.) Melee players getting the creature to-hit bonus 3.) Bug fixes (maskscent, "warping", camp creature repelling, rescue delay) 4.) Expansion to the "examine" function (general quality of harvested resources, whether creature is "social") 5.) Experimentation on traps and camps (to increase auto-disband times, and to-hit success) 6.) Traps useable on CH creatures
These are some of the issues that have been identified by the community as needing to be addressed. For more on this, visit the Ranger forums and view N'Raas's (the Ranger Correspondent) thread on "State of the Profession".
CONCLUSIONS
Rangering is no longer merely 'Scouting, version 2". We are a fully functional, well rounded profession that will see a definite increase in popularity as the changes we have worked hard to secure are added to the game.
On a personal note, I am dismayed to see so many Rangers "packing it in" or giving up their hard earned titles. I know it can be frustrating. I know that there are things that should work better, or shouldn't have been broken to begin with. I know that the Devs sometimes have odd priorities that don't make much sense to us. But the best thing about SWG - about any MMORPG - is that nothing is written in stone. Nothing has to stay the way it is, and we have already demonstrated that by working together, we can get things changed. I hope that those of you who were contemplating dropping your skills or not becoming a Ranger at all can rethink your position, have a little optimism and a tad of hope, and keep that Ranger in your title. You'll be glad you did.
For those new to Rangering, or who just read this guide to see what it was like, I hope that these hints, tips and information will help make your experience a little easier, a little quicker and a little more fun.
If you've read this far, and you're on Bloodfin, all you need to do is send me an in-game tell and I'll train you for free.
Good luck, Rangers! Happy trails, and good hunting.
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
My dear God, whatta Post. I just have to thank you for taking the time and effort in posting such a well thought out article. True, most of this stuff I knew already, but it is VERY informative for those just starting on this wonderful Profession.
Jekker
Tempest
Ranger (almost to that Master title) CH/soon to be ex-BH
LOL! Almost word for word RIGHT out of the SWG Prima's Official Strategy Guid. But HEY, at least this post is free, right?
Sorry. But I cannot trust a man who wrote this:
Remy,
I wont go intot he arguments that you've made, but I will say this - I've been a Master Ranger for over a month. I've been to every planet. I've seen lots of things.
You know how many conceal kits I've made?
None.
Not a one. Not a single kit. Because I can never find the resources necessary - not the hide, or meat. The flora.
The only reason I know what they're like is because Aramus was a saint and gave me some the last time we went hunting.
I mean if he cannot even find ANY of the resources to make a Cammo Kit? lol, too funny.
Tell you what Delta. Hook up with me sometime, and I'll show you how to hunt. I'll even give you a Crafting tool and tell you how to assemble the items into a cammo kit, and then I'll show you how they STILL do not work. I'll even buy you a ticket to Endor or Dothamir to show you first hand how they do not work.
Feagan Martin - Master Ranger/Master Creature Handler/Pistoleer
First, I don't have the Prima guide, so I can't verify what you're talking about there. Everything that's in that guide comes from my personal experience, or from the two other folks who's info (Deg and Dash) that I added. I don't write about things I don't know about.
Second, you need to READ the things that I write. You don't trust me because of that post? You missed a part:
"Because I can never find the resources necessary - not the hide, or meat. The flora."
That whole, "not the hide/meat" part, but the flora thing must have escaped you.
"I'll even give you a Crafting tool and tell you how to assemble the items into a cammo kit, and then I'll show you how they STILL do not work. I'll even buy you a ticket to Endor or Dothamir to show you first hand how they do not work."
Um, I never said I didn't know how to make them. I said I've never spent the time to get the flora component. Now that we don't need it, I'll be making plenty of conceal kits. Not only that, N'Raas and I went out and tested the changes on TC together, and they seem to be working great. And I've been on Yavin 4, with Aramus (thePhilsopher on the boards) and we had a pretty good time using the kits. They worked well for us. Mask Scent didn't, but that's a whole other can of worms.
So how about instead of "not trusting" me because of one post, go back and take a look at the other 2143 that I've written? I don't know what I've done to garner your disrespect, but whatever it is, I'm sorry.
I don't even know why I'm responding to this. Arguing with a CH is like being in the special olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded.
B
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
One more thing - if you could please repost the sections of my guide and the parts from the Prima guide that you believe are so similiar, I'd appreciate it.
I don't like being accused of plagarism. So I'd like to see what is so similiar as to warrant the charge.
B
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
Many thanx as always for the excellent support both you and NRass have worked hard to deliver to the Scout/Ranger community.
I have the Prima Guide. There are no areas in the book, that I know of, which come close to your guides. The Prima Guide, already severely outdated, offers very little in the way of advanced skills guidance: It is more for beginning players. It introduces each profession and states, for Rangers, that "while the Scout is comfortable in the wilderness, the Ranger thrives in it." It introduces each skill, cost and what is gained by acquiring that skill. The Prima Guide goes into more more detail on the beginning professions than the elite\hybrids.
Thanx for the update to your guide.
RissKei TKM, Imperial Sector Ranger Skinning the galaxy one beast at a time... Had Abbadon, Lok
And the guide is meant for those who haven't attained Master yet. If you have, then you don't really need to know "How to Become a Master Ranger", right?
Man. Maybe I should've just not bothered updating this. Ya'll are real cynical lately.
B
BRISC RUBAL SCOUT CORRESPONDENT EMERITUS Jedi w Politician w Epic Roleplay Carebear Tarkin Memorial Brigade Founder w Fight Club Propagandist AXIS Meatshield w RIVAL Glow Stick Waver
