Bounty Hunter Archive
Thread: Coming back
One of the Four Horsemen of the Smuggler Apocalypse! 
Grisal wrote:Yeah I stared out smuggler switched to BH, only to find out I missed smugglingnow I'm back to smuggler and have never been happier.
You...smuggle?! I dropped Smuggler many times. Each time I find myself going back to it...I must have the heart of a Smuggler, too! =) I just can't stand not being a Master Smuggler.
Oy. I don't even know where to begin. Let's see, probably easier if I work my way backwards.
You've probably at least become aware of the 'camo for the masses' debate. Some say yea, some say nay. Personally, I'm not pleased with the idea of one of our elite skills getting whored out to any fool with a pulse, but as this is a fresh topic, you can read all about it without leaving the first page of the forum.You most likelyalready have.
As a rifleman, you probably didn't use /rescue all that much. Well, don't bother trying to use it now. Nor any traps other than phec darts.
Our camps haven't changed at all since you've been gone. Not even a tiny bit.
Tracking is still our most useful skill. That said, it hasn't changed one iota, either.
While we did get the CL and health bonus applied to our profession when the CU went live (thanks to tireless efforts put forth by Owen, Calc, and others), we got no additional melee or ranged defenses, leaving us far more vulnerable than other double combat prof masters. This, coupled with the aforementioned lack of working traps (the effects of which are now duplicated and improved upon by many combat specials anyway), makes the ranger/single combat master less effective than most other combatants. Also, the stealth abilities that had been proposed over the preceding months were finally implemented. They just didn't go to us. Congrats to riflemen and jedi, though. No, seriously. Enjoy the stealth. Sure looks fun. That's the CU for us, in a nutshell. Oh, and our armor type is Battle. That includes marauder, bone, padded, maybe RIS, possibly other stuff. Can't remember.
We did, however, get a +50 harvest bonus at masterbefore the CU went live. Group harvest penalties were also removed, and group bonuses for harvesting implemented. Being in a group gets you a 20% bonus. Grouping with a ranger gets you a 30% bonus, unless it's a master ranger, in which case the bonus is 40%. Note that rangers don't give themselves the bonus-- you get 20% unless there's another ranger/master ranger in the group.
There have been some GCW changes as well. Gone are the overt/covert states. Say hello to Special Forces (pvp), Combatant (overt to opposite faction npc's), and On Leave (covert). Also,with the advent of planetary control, don't be surprised to seepreviously neutral cities being patrolled by npc faction guards.
I'm sure there's plenty I've left out, but that should give you enough to chew on while we wait for the servers to come up. Oh, and welcome back. Your timing is... curious.
al-djinn'i
Master Ranger