Bio Engineer Archive

If you're coming from behind then you should have no trouble crawling at normal speed. A good tip is to try to find lairs where there are a lot of trees and undergrowth. Mutant rancors can detect you running from around 90m and walking from around 64m, if you drive to around 150m run to 90m walk to 65ish then get down on your belly and crawl the rest of the way you've got a better chance of not being seen but if there are lots of trees and rocks that block the los you've got a much better chance of getting to 15m for the sample then if you're crawling along out in the open.
I also believe - but cant confirm that rancor's are short sighted - possibly because of their height, once you get to a certain closeness, even when they turn to look at you they dont often see you if you're down on your belly in front of them.
That said - I really wouldnt recomend it without exploration 4, I had only expoloration 2 for a long time and the difference is incredible - I only wish I had the points for Master Scout.

So my #1 would be find lairs (piles of rocks irrc) in the murky depths of the trees and bogs, without jawa beer I took out an entire lair getting 12 samples before my buffs ran out and had to drive home

Have you tried sampling sampling lately ? They have been tweaked. They break scent more often, they chase longer, and they db even if you spam peace and dont have a weapon.

They dont always db, but its happening. Its also a lot more difficult to actually get a sample now. Yes I crawl, yes I use cover blah blah.

Ive gone from no db's on a trip that resulted in 20+ samples to a trip with 4 db's, many incaps. and only 5 samples.

I'm a Master BE, Master Scout, 3030 Ranger with +25 Scent Mods <I used to be a Master Tailor> AND have a nice swig or fifteen of Jawa Beer (must be the wooly hides).

Either I'm having the worst luck, or they made MR's harder. On the other hand I have 90+ samples from Endor, MDH, BMQ's etc, not even a scratch well maybe a disease...

<edit> most of the chasing comes from a botched sample, not so much a scent break once im close.

sampling success has gone way down.

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LisaE wrote:

Have you tried sampling sampling lately ?

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Yesterday in fact came back with a 10-12 samples, worse luck today - only 4 samples, the MR's respwaned but they were in a really difficult place with no cover so I decided to leave them for another day

just tried to sample, 0 for 14 and an incap.

I always get buffs before I go sampling - they cost a very small amount compared to the pain of many incaps

Sorry, but nowhere has the code changed for detecting players approach. Mobs test for aggro at 64 and 32 meters. Passing across that distance triggers the scent/detection check. No mobs detect you at 90 meters except those that are mission/spawn targets, which detect you at 100 meters to spawn, and may be aggro at that point. Movement speed is the only new factor that has been added to the equation, and it does not make enough difference to mitigate the liklihood of detection with 3 or 4 high levels in a cluster.

Mob "field of view" is not implemented in SWG the way it is in EQ or some other games, but distance trigger is the main detect mechanism, with a level/ferocity bonus to detecting. The scout/ranger forums and players determined this quite thoroughly very early on, and the subsequent changes have been to the frequency of detection only. The problem is that the level/ferocity check that works fairly well for average aggro mobs means a nearly 100% detect rate on very high level or high ferocity mobs, as it apparenty does not scale, but simply increases in a fixed linear manner.

If you would like to prove this, create a character that has scout skills, get to mask scent levels, and approach a single aggro mob. You will receive experience for passing the 64 meter and 32 meter distances undetected, and nowhere else.

The best success I have had is in getting within 32 meters of a mob that has stopped chasing me, and following it back towards the group. If I escape detection by the others as I am approaching, I stand a good chance of getting a sample.

Now, will someone hit the devs between the eyes with something heavy and get their attention, then in nice small words explain that something with 15K HAMS should not die on the first sample when a gnot with 15 HAM lives through 5-6 samples.

LLan

Whether intentional or not there have been changes to mask scent - it is not working correctly and hasnt been for at least 2 months.
In caves mask scent is unreliable at best - the mobs will aggro you without breaking mask scent.
Frequently when out in the open you will get your scouting XP and have your mask scent broken at the same time from a single target.

As for only checking at 64 and 32 meters - you run towards a pack of mutant rancors from 100 meters and see how far you are away when they notice you

looks like it was a run of bad luck, after the 0 for 14 i logged for a bit to avoid the 3 incap=return trip thing and went 4 for 8

my main complaint was the sampling failures.

so no, i'm not going to master scout again mr. i know the scent db has not changed guy. i'm just going on my obeservations as i work my craft. ive seen a change in the last day or two and commented.

its more a vent because sampling on dath will never be "easy", at least not until i get that camo kit.

its also pretty well known that cover and field of view are pretty well implemented in this game, and i also enjoy saving my own hide <oq 1000 btw> by running chasing rancors into a herd of malock bulls.

well done swg

mutants, enraged, etc all break scent at 90 no problem, i concur with nancyj.

hi there, i just started BE. does having a ranger apply camo to you work for sampling? or do rancors and other high level pets break that too?

well..since im only at wayfaring 3 i cant say how it works on rancors yet, but as BE/Ranger Aro (those Bothans are pretty smart) put it to me "Its Hide Scents Big Brother"...so I'm looking forward to nice leisurely strolls on Dath.

I happen to like Ranger for the increased harvesting, and especially the turbo crawl speed. Not sure if mob facing is as important as your sillouette, but I canconfirm that crawling/prone definitely makes the mobs miss seeing you, or even lose interest. I also like the increased monster info I get now, cool to fully check out the natural and BE creations walking around.

I dont like the " a rancor is stalking you" message.