Ranger Archive
Thread: The Creature Harvest Droid User's Manual
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Jaxus
Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:35 pm
#1
Hello fellow rangers,
I wanted to write this short article in response to the negative opinions from those who do not seem to realize the value of these droids. First things first:
Who do these droids benefit?
The creature harvest module mainly benefits any scout or ranger who uses ranged methods in hunting his/her resource.If you use melee methods in aquiring your resources than yes, you can harvest faster <if you are solo>, although without the added harvest bonus. I say if you are solo because hunting in groups is where these droids shine. Let me give you an example.
You are in a group hunt collecting a target resource for whatever reason. Up front are the hand to hand players tanking, in the near distance are the ranged players. While the melee artists are doing thier thing you can have a droid deployed collecting off everything all of them are killing, one after another, all the while you keep hitting the targets as well, never having to stop and run in and collect before the corpse dissapears. A simple one letter command such as H is all you need to send in little harvey the wonder droid and do your work while you keep supporting your group.
The case of dissapearing corpses
There have been many times where I'm out hunting large game and can't run in quick enough before the corpse dissapears. The reason for this is that while you are in the background the TK artist up close has already dressed the corpse and at that point, time is NOT on your side. You see, while leaving the corpse untouchedmakes it last considerably longer, the decay rate skyrockets as soon as someone takes a harvest. I saw this happen hunting Kimos on many occasions. I run up to the corpse..have to wait because "you can't harvest in your current condition". then... blink, its gone. at least 600 units of hide, gone. <I was going after hide on this particular instance.> This will never happen to me with a droid. Not only are the % bonuses considerably more on something as large as a kimo, I can stay in battle while it goes in and collects the resource!
Grouping your droid
This brings up a ver good point. DO
Jaxus
Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:49 pm
#2
Hello fellow rangers,
I wanted to write this short article in response to the negative opinions from those who do not seem to realize the value of these droids. First things first:
Who do these droids benefit?
The creature harvest module mainly benefits any scout or ranger who uses ranged methods in hunting his/her resource.If you use melee methods in aquiring your resources and do not hunt in groups, than yes, you can harvest faster <if you are solo>, although without the added harvest bonus. I say if you are solo because hunting in groups is where these droids shine. Let me give you an example.
You are in a group hunt collecting a target resource for whatever reason. Up front are the hand to hand players tanking, in the near distance are the ranged players. While the melee artists are doing thier thing you can have a droid deployed collecting off everything all of them are killing, one after another, all the while you keep hitting the targets as well, never having to stop and run in and collect before the corpse dissapears. A simple one letter command such as H is all you need to send in little harvey the wonder droid and do your work while you keep supporting your group.
The case of dissapearing corpses
There have been many times where I'm out hunting large game and can't run in quick enough before the corpse dissapears. The reason for this is that while you are in the background the TK artist up close has already dressed the corpse and at that point and moved on. Time is NOT on your side. You see, while leaving the corpse untouchedmakes it last considerably longer, in a group situation that rarely happends and the decay rate skyrockets as soon as someone takes a harvest. I experienced this happening hunting Kimos on many occasions. I run up to the corpse and have to wait because "you can't harvest in your current condition". then... blink, its gone. at least 600 units of hide, gone. <I was going after hide on this particular instance.> This will never happen to me with a droid. Not only are the % bonuses considerably more on something as large as a kimo, I canremain in battle while it goes in and collects the resource, without hesitation!
Grouping your droid
This brings up a very good point. DO NOT GROUP YOUR DROID. Unless you think it's fun chasing it everytime it gets argo'd. I have never had my droid take damage, ever, and I use it everytime I hunt. Nor do they ever run. I am not saying it won't happen, just that it isn't something that happens on a regular basis. Again, I'm talking about driods that are NOT grouped.
In closing,
I would very much like to keep this thread open with positive suggestions to those considering the benefits of utilizing droids during collection. Please keep negative posts to another thread as not to blemish the squeeky clean reputation I would bestow on my favorite droid. The droid made for US!... The creature harvester.
Jaxus
Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:51 pm
#3
Sorry for the double post there was a glitch while typing....ignore this thread please, I'd lock it out if I could, Please see the finnished product under the same title
JBMat
Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:28 pm
#4
Short and simple -
The droid who can't fight is a waste of credits. We can harvest. Forget the slight increase in harvest, buy a real droid who can fight, spend less time on targets and ultimately get more harvest. Less time on one target = more time for more targets = more harvest.
Why spend batteries ...uh, credits... on something that does what you can do? For that matter, hire a Master Scout to harvest for you, at least if they run, they can come back.
Support your local DE, buy a fighting droid.
This PSA brought to you by common sense and reason - see past the glitter and shiny paint
JB
frightwig
Tue Jul 06, 2004 7:17 pm
#5
I gotta agree with you Jaxus.
I often see messages complaining about the upkeep of droids, but.. Where is the upkeep? 1k or 2k credits for a crate of droid batteries that will last you a month?
I should point out that I'm a rifleman, and I'd agree -- if you're melee, you can harvest as soon as you kill. For a rifleman, it's a waste of time to kill a few things at 64m, run to the corpse, harvest, and then run back out to 64m to wait for the next wave from a lair. If you're attacking aggressive mobs, or a lair near an aggressive mob you risk attracting their attention. It's a perfect reason to use a harvest droid.
Also, people speak of delays.. the ONLY delay from a harvesting droid is caused by immediately sending your droid to havest after using a special attack (the droid waits in the que, even if it doesn't show up). The droid itself has no delays as the /tellpet command is instant.
I often see messages complaining about the upkeep of droids, but.. Where is the upkeep? 1k or 2k credits for a crate of droid batteries that will last you a month?
I should point out that I'm a rifleman, and I'd agree -- if you're melee, you can harvest as soon as you kill. For a rifleman, it's a waste of time to kill a few things at 64m, run to the corpse, harvest, and then run back out to 64m to wait for the next wave from a lair. If you're attacking aggressive mobs, or a lair near an aggressive mob you risk attracting their attention. It's a perfect reason to use a harvest droid.
Also, people speak of delays.. the ONLY delay from a harvesting droid is caused by immediately sending your droid to havest after using a special attack (the droid waits in the que, even if it doesn't show up). The droid itself has no delays as the /tellpet command is instant.
Calculus_Entropy
Tue Jul 06, 2004 10:48 pm
#6
Good guide and great tips 
. I will ahve to try some of them out and see if it improves my feelings for the little guys.
. I will ahve to try some of them out and see if it improves my feelings for the little guys.
AzucarSalado
Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:07 am
#7
Nice guide,
I love my R3 droid and I keep recommendingit to anyone that hunts with a ranged weapon. A 10% is a high surplus when you harvest from creaturas that drop little number of resources (ie Avian Meat 
) Battteries are not very expensiveand no so expensive. Exemple:
) Battteries are not very expensiveand no so expensive. Exemple:3000 units of avian in one afternoon ->
surplus collected by the R3: = 300 units
300 units x 50 cpu =1500 credits colected by the R3. That is the price of a crate of m batteries 
If you have the luck that spawns an exceptional avian meat that you can sell for 100 cpu, in one week you have paid up the droid (it costs me 50 kcredits).
And never nerver never agian you'll see a corpse diseppear without having harvested it
The only problem I've noticed is that my little R3 is a "little covard" when we hunt rancors in Dathomir. Many times it doesn't obey the orders and run away 
AzucarSalado
Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:10 am
#8
I cant edit the post. There is a mistake in the numbers I gave:
300 units x 5 credits = 1500 credits
5 credits is a very low price (the worst). Normal avian is 15 cpu worth, good avian is 50 cpu worth and exceptinal avian is 100 cpu worh.
Phenix1050
Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:39 am
#9
I use an Arakyd Tracking Droid with a +14 harvesting, if I use it at all. Generally though, my little guy goes unused. I tend to rush into the fight before I really know what I'm doing just to get the meat/hide lol.
KaiRaene
Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:45 am
#10
Since I have made my way back up the harvesting line my lvl 96 harvesting droid is now useless. It harvests one more hide than me on qualamas... 
Its only really useful to me since as Rifleman I keep my distance when killing. I can just send it in to harvest while I move on to the next target.
Its only really useful to me since as Rifleman I keep my distance when killing. I can just send it in to harvest while I move on to the next target. If I can find a DE making higher level I might get one but this time I will have them name my R3 Master Ranger.
Jaxus
Wed Jul 07, 2004 8:37 am
#11
Less time on one target = more time for more targets = more harvest.
This is the point I made for the droids, you spend NO time harvesting thus killing faster. Also read my post closer, Your theory doesn't hold in a group situation which is where I believe the main benefit to be. While your characteris fighting and collecting your killsMy droid is collecting off mine, yours and everyone's kills, not just mine. It really makes a difference 
Time = Credits
Jaxus
Fri Jul 09, 2004 9:32 am
#12
Well, I went out and tried out my droid with rancors last night. Using the tactics I explained earlier I have 27k of Carnivore meat from one night hunting with my droid. I did find that the little bugger was brave until we went up against mutated Rancors then he ran but all in all I say I gathered more than twice as much using the droid. Not that the bonuses counted for that but because the three of us were killing rancors pretty fast and it was very intense at times, there was no way I could run and collect while constantly under attack by rancors, especially the enraged rancors. If I sell this for 10cpu (which is conservative) I will have the payouts from the missions <10k each average since there were 3 of us> and 270k from the meat. I would repay that 200k droid, hadI bought one, in one night easily and have the droid forever... sounds like a good deal to me. I think I'm going to contact erillion and see if he has any of those 114 harv bonusR3's left.
ShyGirl
Fri Jul 09, 2004 10:31 am
#13
Thank you Jaxus for your Guide !
The only times I do usethe droid iswhen I am collecting resources for an order when every single unit counts. I use 30-33% Vaganesh (I hope I spelled that one correctly) which adds to my harvesting count. Using my Droid gives me some additional percentage. If I'm not wrong, about 10% !
The droid harvestingslows you down a bit, but when you are done hunting, it's all worth while (Especially when you are working on orders that pay 25-100 cpu's).
The advice to not group your harvesting droid is excellent, not many ppl know they shouldn't (Never group with a non combatant "entity" as it risks being attacked by aggro's.)
Thank you for your post and I truly hope DE's will get some business from us hunters
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