Ranger Archive
Thread: Choose.. but choose wisely..
Greetings all, trying to solicit your feedback here.
I'm planning ahead here (the trap grinding is getting to me I think), but I'm planning ongoing master ranger/rifleman. That much is pretty well set in stone. However, the choice that has me unsure is whether to spend the few precious remaining points in A) the Ranged Support line or B) novice medic with first aid 1. This is something I've been struggling with. I currently have ranged support 3 ( not sure about spending the 22k combat and 5 skill pts just to get suppression fire).
I guess what it all boils down to is just how valuable is warning shot, and personally it's never worked well for me at all. Maybe I just don't know how to use it right, but it's always ended in either disaster or chasing a mob for 100m just to get back in range. ( and then he turns on me again) Being able to throw on small heals however, might be more of use.
your insights appreciated.
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Master Ranger
Rifleman (3-1-0-0)
* gives me mindshot 1 & 2, conceal shot & headshot 3.
Pistoleer (0-1-4-1)
* gives me fanshot, double tap, stopping shot, healthshot 2 and pistol melee.
Master Scout
Marksman (4-4-0-4)
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Total of 250 points.
The way I look at it is I can solo very effectively using my rifle and if anything gets too close, I can switch to pistol (if needed). In groups that shoot mostly health damage, I can still be beneficial by adding strong pistol skills there.
I use one or the other mostly, depending on the creature and it's HAM. Gives me a choice.
I have thought of giving up either pistol or rifle to get CH because I love pets. I just think this combo works best for me and my style of play.
second2nunn wrote:
Well Supression Fire is a very usefull attack against brawlers, it makes them immobible so you can attack them without them striking you. It is only usefull on NPCs and doesnt' work w/animals so if you are never going to fight a npc, don't get it.
It does work on creatures, but I used a pistol at the time, I have not tested it with carbine or rifle. If the creature has a ranged attack they can still "shoot" you, however.I have no idea with pets, I don't do PvP.
Unfortunately I cannot offer advice to the poster, I have both of the things you are toying with having because I find both essential, the healing and warning shot + suppression. Warning shot is an absolutely beautiful thing, use a snare before it hauls off too far. That or if you have social creatures, warning shot and health shots stacked up so they bleed as they run off and you can deal with the mobs right by you.
Not sure I could live without one or the other =(
Good luck to you in whatever you decide.
But as it is, if you can only have one over the other AND you usually solo, I'd think medic would be a wiser choice, particularly with the impending 30-second timer on suppression fire from advanced range support.
On the other hand, if you usually go out in a medic-equipped group, I'd still suggest taking suppressio nfire because it looks to remain a useful skill. They're reducing the frequency with which you can use it, but they're increasing the likelihood of success and the amount of damage, it does, as well. Basically, it's going to go from an excellent offensive tool to an excellent defensive tool, which is probably what it was meant to be in the first place.
As for your lack of success with warning shot, it's a tricky one to use. You have to hit peace before you get any more shots off, and sometimes with lag that's hard. If anyone else is firing, that will negate it. And it flat doesn't work on some creatures. I haven't really investigated it, but I'm going to be it's related to the ferocity level.
Guys,
Stupid question - mind shot 2 and mind shot 1...the effects stack? I've not been bothering with mind shot 1 since I got mind shot 2...am I an idiot?
B
I doubt you're an idiot, but they do stack. When I get good rolls on both, I can get upwards of 1500 bleed damage going on a creature, which brings it down quite fast.
One thing to bear in mind with that, however, if you use Armor Piercing rifles such as the laser rifle or T21: bleed damage is always what it says it is in your combat window, even if your AP gives you huge bonuses to your regular shots. If the creature is one on which you get big bonus damage for AP, you may be better off using a headshot instead of that second bleed shot (mindshot1).
"Stupid question - mind shot 2 and mind shot 1...the effects stack? I've not been bothering with mind shot 1 since I got mind shot 2...am I an idiot?"
Delta, you're thoughts are usually so well thought out on these boards, no-on can call you an idiot 
biwan:
From what I've been told by others who pay much more attention to these things than I, they do indeed stack and that's one reason I'm going to try to get mindhshot3 myself. The biggest problem I have with these is I usually have so much combat spam going off I rarely can tell what hit and what missed with the mindshots since they all use the same bleed icon.
Most of the time the things I kill end up dieing of health or action anyway though. I tend use-up all my mind pool on specials such as supression and warning and let the pet do the real damage.
Delta:
That was by no means a stupid question. I frequent the Pistol board and I recently learned that trick. In fact, I created a macro that does HealthShot2, HealthShot1, BodyShot2. It is my default attack unless the creature is very weak. And BTW, thank you for doing a great job on this board, I really value your opinions and insight.
R/S
Margor
Ranger/Squad Leader/Part time miner, Wanderhome
LastEE, there is no Mindshot3. After Mindshot2, there's Headshot3 (which uses huge amounts of HAM), then Surprise Shot, then the deathblow shot (don't remember the name).
One minor tip: if your combat spam is hard to follow, you can go to Options and change the text color of many different types of combat spam (you hit, you miss, other hits you, other hits other, etc.). A lot of them are white text by default, and I found my combat spam much easier to sort out once I changed some of them to different colors.
SneakyBothan wrote:
I would unequivocally support taking suppression fire if it weren't being nerfed, it rocks that much. I can tab target a whole bunch of baffing mobs and keep them at a good distance while I deal out damage.
...snip good stuff, just not what I'm commenting on...
Man, I've tried to get off shots on the "helpers" but most of the time I can't pull that off. Here is the problem: there is no 100% guaranteed chance that you will target the guy you need to in a hurry. Now, if all is clear and no "junk targets" get in the mix I would agree, but targeting is so Borked that I often get a shot on a passerby critter I did not intend to hit. I can't spend too much time on targeting or I'm a chew-toy in 3 seconds. I really wish there was a "targetAttacking" command like I see in airsims and my ol' Mechwarrior games.
When you are hunting Wrix most lairs include a Mottled Wrix anda Grand Wrix you don't have a lot of time to be "picking" targets... even at max range. I have even put single Wrix in perfect set-up just to watch the Grand and another simply "pop-in" on top of me 2 seconds after I start... all with /maskScent active. I'm not sure but there has to be something "odd" going on there. I have not tried the harder planets because of this, I cannot find a dependable way of Wrix hunting yet and I don't see hitting the harder planets till I do.
I was with a group of 3 others trying this and the Wrix chew on us good. We still come out victorious, pretty good vets among us but d*mn if I can't figure out how those "Baz Nitch soloist" are doing it. Even my 1.8 sec FWG5 at master marksman level can't get off supression fast enough to stop more then one... which leaves 2 to chew on me. If I throw a P-Dart, the other 2 are on me before supress fires. I can sometimes toss a trap, get a supress (and have to run from it cause it's on me) and deal with the third but I can't kill #3 fast enough...
(sorry... anyone have any cheese? 
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