Ranger Archive

I have asked the same question more or less over in the CH forums, but no one who has tried it has responded, so I figured it was time to ask here.

I have a number of alternatives, the most attractive two of which are:

MRanger/MDoctor/MScout
MRanger/MCH/MScout/Medic0400
MRanger/BH0444/Medic0400

The thing is I like Creature Handler and it just got given some neat new things to play with, I like Doctor and find the buffs and healing to be a nice thing to bring to a group, and I have always been inclined towards giving Ranger a good shot because I want to explore the various worlds more. Ranger helps CH with the tracking as well of course.

And yes, I am currently doing the FS conversion tango, and this would be efficient for that. The key thing is I dont want a Jedi - I want the alt slot, so when I am done I want to be playing something I like, and don't need to change or drop. This is why I am less inclined towards the BH spec even though its eminently more feasible overall. I don't anticipate taking any of the melee/combat oriented FS powers. I am either going to stay as whatever spec I pick or return to crafting. If I stay, then exploring via Ranger and taming and teaching creatures via CH would suit me well. I tried both Ranger (briefly) and CH (a bit more extensively) during the CU respec period but never sadly tried them together for some reason...

I realize I would have no weaponskills and be limited to an ALR etc, but the question is can you survive, can you solo as a MRanger/MCH? or is it more viable to go with one of the other options. If none of those are viable (I know Ranger brings relatively little to the plate at the moment) then what is viable? I see most Rangers are MRanger/MRifleman, is that because its the only way to even consider Ranger as a profession?

Any help appreciated.

I am currently Master Ranger/MBH only because I can grind for Jedi better than when I was MCH.

From a "fun" standpoint, I loved being Master Ranger/MCH.

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akaaj66 wrote:

I am currently Master Ranger/MBH only because I can grind for Jedi better than when I was MCH.

From a "fun" standpoint, I loved being Master Ranger/MCH.

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Thanks for the feedback, any tips or suggestions then?

I'm about to drop Master Rifleman for MCH and some BE skills. I'm not sure what my CL will turn out like though.

I too like being a CH from a fun standpoint and I'd really like to try out the changes made in the new publish. The only reason I've been using rifleman for so long (it's sad but Ranger/Rifleman is the only template I've ever had on my main character) is because it's great for my role as a 'solo hunter'. However, I've now decided to move on from that to become less of a hunter and more of a 'creature expert'. Even if it's just temporary I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun with it. Plus it'll be nice to have at least some basic medic skills.

Like I said, it's just a 'fun' template and I'm not sure what my CL will be and I doubt I'll still be able to solo effectively. I'm not sure about you but fortunately I still have my token respec incase there's any nasty surprises...

I'm a Master Ranger / Master Creature Handler. Though I have to be careful, at times, I do just fine, thank you. I'm able to find babies with relative ease, and do pretty well keeping the No-Trace Survival shop supplied. Sure, there are others that are able to destroy something, merely by looking at it, but I'm having fun with this combination. And, considering the number of broken aspects of both professions, there's not much place to go, but up.

After due consideration of what I need to achieve with regard to FS skills, I am going to be going MBH/MRanger until I am done banking combat experience, then I will switch to MCH/MRanger when that process is completed. If CH experience translated as Combat experience - as it should in my opinion - then I would not bother with BH, but for now MBH/MRanger will be faster.

Once I have unlocked my alt slot, then I will be happy to switch to MCH/MRanger as I have little or no interest in Jedi per se. Of course my opinion may change once I get there but I highly doubt it. Alternatively I will return to crafting and my alt will be MCH/MRanger

Thank you all for the feedback.

I like being MCH and Master Ranger. Sometimes it's difficult if I'm with a hunting group for the pets to gain xp because we are pretty efficient at moving in, killing, harvesting, move on to next lair.

It's definitely a template to play if your interested in more than combat.

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Sneev wrote:
If CH experience translated as Combat experience - as it should in my opinion - then I would not bother with BH, but for now MBH/MRanger will be faster.

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BioEngine wrote:

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Sneev wrote:
If CH experience translated as Combat experience - as it should in my opinion - then I would not bother with BH, but for now MBH/MRanger will be faster.

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You mean 1:30?

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No, I mean it should be counted as Combat Experience rather than Heightened Senses, although I suppose that would mean that it would be changed to 30:1 and that wouldn't be fair since its not earned at the same rate as Weapons experience. It just seems odd to me that it comes as Senses experience, but I suppose if it were changed as to category and not as to ratio then we would see a massive explosion of MCHs who didn't care about the profession as a whole and that would be a bad thing. Disregard my comment

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Sneev wrote:

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BioEngine wrote:

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Sneev wrote:
If CH experience translated as Combat experience - as it should in my opinion - then I would not bother with BH, but for now MBH/MRanger will be faster.

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You mean 1:30?

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No, I mean it should be counted as Combat Experience rather than Heightened Senses, although I suppose that would mean that it would be changed to 30:1 and that wouldn't be fair since its not earned at the same rate as Weapons experience. It just seems odd to me that it comes as Senses experience, but I suppose if it were changed as to category and not as to ratio then we would see a massive explosion of MCHs who didn't care about the profession as a whole and that would be a bad thing. Disregard my comment

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What's stupid and annoying is that our own experience types do not count towards obtaining the survival FS tree. Trapping experience doesn't contribute to a +5 to trapping? Cmon!!

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BioEngine wrote:

What's stupid and annoying is that our own experience types do not count towards obtaining the survival FS tree. Trapping experience doesn't contribute to a +5 to trapping? Cmon!!

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Oh I couldn't agree more.

Actually the whole experience point exchange system is rather stupid to be honest, since its simulating making getting to Padawan difficult by enforcing a grind - which is not good gameplay - rather than actually making it a challenge. I think it should be hard, but it should do so in a manner than is random enough that it can't be documented on the web adequately, and one that forces you to actually think and work at it to finish the task. The entire FS and Jedi experience should be based on quests that are so randomized that no two players paths are following even remotely the same path and it requires time and effort to accomplish your goals. Such a system can be created given a bit of time and effort, with enough checks and balances to ensure that you can't do it quickly. It is unaffected by double exp periods etc. Say a checklist of 144 or so separate quests - each ideally taking between 2-12 hours to complete - based on so many different possible combinations that the likelihood of two players receiving the same path - or even the same criteria for completing a quest - is highly remote. Sure it would end up being a lot of fedex and killtask quests involving dozens of NPCs but it has to be a better approach than effectively suggesting players kill 32,000 bols (yes, you have the choice of what you hunt but the net result is the same). In fact each box you choose to complete should have associated quests tied to it. Ideallly they involve moral decisions that affect what TYPE of Jedi you become in the end

If it was truely hard, and coincidently time consuming, but challenging the whole way you would see a lot less Jedi-wannabes grinding there way through it, and the people who had earned it would have a justifiable sense of achievement at its completion. The gameplay resulting from spending a year trying to complete this process would be worth the subscription fee more than the current setup, and it would be as casual friendly as is possible (since you pick it up and play when you get the chance, rather than having to find a group, spend hours grinding etc). You should be able to solo the entire thing. All the current system does is testify that you can a) read the task list on some webpages and b) grind mindlessly for many hours in a completely unchallenging and utterly mindnumbing gameplay experience, ie anyone with half a brain and sufficient patience/bloodymindedness can complete the task.

So while the Ranger experience goes to the wrong type of FS conversion, to my mind that is no where near as ludicrous as the whole system is

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BioEngine wrote:

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Sneev wrote:

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BioEngine wrote:

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Sneev wrote:
If CH experience translated as Combat experience - as it should in my opinion - then I would not bother with BH, but for now MBH/MRanger will be faster.

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You mean 1:30?

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No, I mean it should be counted as Combat Experience rather than Heightened Senses, although I suppose that would mean that it would be changed to 30:1 and that wouldn't be fair since its not earned at the same rate as Weapons experience. It just seems odd to me that it comes as Senses experience, but I suppose if it were changed as to category and not as to ratio then we would see a massive explosion of MCHs who didn't care about the profession as a whole and that would be a bad thing. Disregard my comment

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What's stupid and annoying is that our own experience types do not count towards obtaining the survival FS tree. Trapping experience doesn't contribute to a +5 to trapping? Cmon!!

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OFE !!!!

And you have to be a doc and bio-engeneer to do the quest, as a matter of fact there are no fs quest's with any hint of Ranger in them.

Message Edited by Starson on 08-11-2005 02:05 PM