Ranger Archive

I was sending out mail to find out who was interested in a chapter of AR's on Eclipse when I got a reponse from Verena. The short and skinny of it was -no longer a ranger - went Pistoleer/CH and suddenly was able to stuff 2 Mill in the bank - no longer harvests and not needing to sell anyway. My best work took a month to get 1/8th of that....

Starting to seriouslywaver here, the devs really need to do something for us...

Master is 140 skill points. I CAN eek out a living... but only just. 2 things I'd like to see thatI bet would make folks take a second thought to the usual templates being used now.

1. Some kind of additional stacking from Rifleman like the Pistoleers get from BH. We need something more then a pittance of bonuses to lift us up as preeminant hunters (and Rifleman does not have a similar profession that they can use to help them like a Pistoleer can... at least they should for PvE if nothing else). All the better hunters never include Rangers. This does not seem right.


2. Some kind of parity with CH. Not a real CH mind you. Perhaps no training or taiming but something like a bonus to non-CH pet use -say higher total pet levels and/or able to have an additional pet out. We are supposed to know animals, but that really does not translate to something WORTH the skill point loss.

Hate to say it but this really has demoralized me. I'm beginning to think it was better simply staying Master Scout and using the skill points for something I can use towork with. I can't really go to higher planets like I would like and collect 10k hides or meat like I have seen others do. For me a good day is 3k. Bottom line: with maxed skillpoints used, the more Ranger I take, the weaker of a hunterI get... dispite what the con color says.

I am seriously bummed here... Maybe it has more to do with the fact I'm a tad stuck at being just a novice rifleman. Idon't have the SP to keep my sword to combat the warping critters and be master rifleman.I'm not sure what to do to fix this, but the more I think about it the more I'm beginning to feel that this proffession is not a good end-game one. It really hit me in the face when I heard from a friend of mine telling me that I should not be harvesting Bagersets when Snorbals yield them 10 times the hide and I should have no problem dropping them now (usually the ones that never experienced the Riflemans 250% damage increase). I could not hope to perform at that level... Forget about getting badges and crap. At least I get to see a lot of pretty scenery...

I really DON'T like saying this kind of thing, I'm usually a pretty positive personand tend to root for the underdogbut d&mn... 2 mill...

I like the idea of Ranger providing further bonuses to other skills, though I wouldn't want it to be too specific. How about +5 weapon speed against creatures or something like that.

I'm also wavering ever so slightly. I could just go out and explore, then stare at the pretty camps and myriad red dots from afar, but that's tough with FFXI coming so soon.

I am 100% in agreement on this one. We have some problems right now. At this time, I only have Master Ranger because of what I think that it should be and to have the Master title. I have been considering dropping it for a few weeks now, because it really is not that helpful. Check the thread that is something about our most useless line and there are a bunch of people (myself included) that really think that all of the lines are rather useless. What does it really gain for me to be a Master Ranger? Conceal and train negotiation is 100% uselss...Camping = useless in the ranger line, we get the only camp we really need in the scout line (face it most people only use them to have people pull their pets out, not for healing, most of us have medics with us)...tracking is ok, nothing too great, it is pretty much just as easy to run about in a 500m circle and look for stuff (now if we could track those spawn points then it would be better)...and do we even really need to talk about the trapping line (2 new traps...and I would say that most of us only use the scout traps if we use any at all).

So, basically, we need to do something more...some reason to be a Master Ranger. I don't even harvest that much more than a scout, even that would at least give me a little more reason to hang around. I am still sitting on the fence, trying to decide if I should drop Master Ranger and pick up some more useful skills. I think that I will hold out for a little longer and pray that they add something more for us Rangers.

1/8th of 2 Mil, huh?

I have never gotten over 68K and that was only once. I usually average 30K. I try to stay around 50K. I am not unhappy, and I don't see a reason to acquire all that money. I only use a small house to store mats in until I need to sell them. Really good mats sell real nice after they shift out.

Is there a reason you need to acquire so much wealth in a virtual world? Think about what success is to you, and then see if you have fun while doing it. If you are not having fun, then why waste the time and effort to reach something that really doesn't matter?

This is like to each his own, and seek your inner spirit type of nonsense, but if you feel you need to accumulate wealth then do what you need to in order to get it.

I would go ahead and drop that sword. Get a few more pistol boxes and use the left over points to go up the rifle tree. If you use the Flurry shot you can hit the Health (or Action or Mind) Pool, and then finish off with the pistol. Flurry is a random pool shot, just keep that in mind. If I know I will be forced to use the pistol then I will use the health bleed on the guy and then switch to Flurry, until I need to switch back to pistol. You have novice Marksman and can get the 4 pistol boxes with only 14 points used, that is one less than Novice Brawler and whatever else you need to use that sword.

But remember have fun and adjust your skills for how you feel each month. You can always pick something back up if you liked it better. Be prepared to always change as the game changes.

Good luck,

It was just a suggestion off the top of my head; my point is that there should be no distinction between what weapon a ranger uses and what the skills could possibly enhance. I don't want my play style to be dictated by someone else's playstyle or preconceptions on how a given trade should go about its business. It's still a good idea, though.

Alright, how about a 2% increase in damage to creatures straight up a specific line of skills -- point cumulative, so that at master we get a 10% damage bonus to creatures.

Actually, I've never cracked 200k... close tho. I bought atop-notch T21 once and it took a month to recover...and only 'cause I have NO overhead (no house and I "oportunitistically" mine when needed). I try not to travel unless I know that I can get more from the trip then I loose. I don't see other peeps really worry about these kinds of things. It's not really a money issue: with time I can get money but it really DOES bare witness to just how "mediocre" this proffession seems to be. I don't want to leave it, infact, refuse to... but I'm beginning to feel like "the working poor" here...

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rysc296 wrote:

It was just a suggestion off the top of my head; my point is that there should be no distinction between what weapon a ranger uses and what the skills could possibly enhance. I don't want my play style to be dictated by someone else's playstyle or preconceptions on how a given trade should go about its business. It's still a good idea, though.

Alright, how about a 2% increase in damage to creatures straight up a specific line of skills -- point cumulative, so that at master we get a 10% damage bonus to creatures.

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That's true, rifleman should have a professional counterpart. Although I dread running into NPCs armed with rifles; it's never fun to watch that little blue line shrink like that.

On a fun note: I just noticed I wrote "play style" and then "playstyle". Let's hear it for consistency!

I lately have accepted that being a Ranger means that I won't ever be terribly wealthy in this game. I hear my CH guildmates talking about getting 20K for a pet, and realize the amount of work (grinding) it would take for me to sell anything for 20K. My slicer friend gets around 18K for slicing a suit of armor, taking up 2 minutes of his time. Armorsmiths and Weaponsmiths can sell uber equipment at a high price. But as Master Ranger, what can I do? (Yes, I can spend time checking the planets for rare meats each week and then kill tons of the same animal and make lots of money...but going from planet to planet updating my database feels like work to me. Please don't rescind my Ranger license for making that comment. Also, yes I understand that in all my examples, these professions had to get equipment and resources to do their job. I thought much of MY jobwasSUPPOSEDTO BEacquiringresources. And don't get me wrong--I would like to do that job (effectively.) )

I realized that I simply make more money running missions than doing what my class is supposed to be designed to do. As a Teras Kasi Master, I can't solo a pack of social mobs without spending a lot of time at it, much like a Rifleman can't solo them. (Yes, I made the foolish choice of going melee, but Ranger was what I was working towards always. Please don't rescind my Ranger license for taking the hard pathin a combat class.)

Ok, so I look at my expenses and can honestly say... Icould easilylive on20K. I buy a new weapon every once in awhile. My small house doesn't cost much. I don't really need to be rich in this game at all. But I've been disheartened for the same reasons that Fred lists. I suspect that other classes with Scout skills can do my harvesting job better than I can at Master Ranger.

The other skill lines, as the other posters have said, are either fairly weak or useless. I do throw a scout trap now and then--stink bomb works great with my specials. And ok, i do like running up hills fast...oh, wait, that's a scout ability too. Ok, I now that our lack of uniqueness has been brought up and that someday changes may come to solve that, which is why I'm still a Master Ranger. /end generic rant.

So, back to the money issue. My final realization was that it probably makes more sense for me to just give my harvests to my fellow guildmates, then to try to get rich from harvesting. We do mission/hunting groups a couple times a week, so I can make money from that if I need to. But I can't shrug the nagging feeling that I'm missing out on one of the main purposes of my class.

So, what are my proposed solutions? Nerf the Scout, I guess (sorry all--I said it.) Some of the suggestions about increasing harvests for Rangers (or decreasing harvests for Scouts) make sense. I like the suggestion about being able to refine organics to improve their quality, being able to /examine a creature to see its resource qualities, and various hunting improvements like DOTs. I think that a Ranger should be devastating to creaturesand pets alike (I've got twice the harvesting skill, and spent twice the skill points--why shouldn't I be generating over twice the harvests--even though I may have fewer combat skills thanScout + Commando, BH, etc.)

In response to the suggestions in this thread--I'd say that a damage increase for any combat type would be great. I'd prefer not to have accuracy increased, since missing is not a problem for me. (If Rangers are supposed to be Riflemen or Marksmen of some kind...please add that to the description of Ranger so at least I know. Although I should've guessed from the "Creature-to-Hit" modifier ) Anyway, added damage would benefit anyone.

In summary, it just seems that I have to work noticeably harder than (many) other classes to get the same level of good pay from my work.

My final suggestion is that I want to be useful when battling high level creatures, so if my traps aren't going to affect a giant Kimo, then at least give me the "Be Swallowed Whole And Kill Creature From Inside" ability.

(To end on a positive, totally unrelated note: I would LOVE areatrack if it were 1000m range--i enjoy ita lot right now. Good job devs on areatrack!)

"Be Swallowed Whole And Kill Creature From Inside" ability

Yep...I like that one!

+50 Creature To-Give Fatal Indigestion skill mod!

Fred,

I feel your pain, as a fellow rifleman I know all to well about what you speak. Now my choice was to grab CH as a supplement to rifleman. 2 months later I still pound my head because I just can't make up my darn mind on things. if i keep 3-2-0-0 in ch I'll never master rifle, but if i master rifle i can go 1-1-0-0 in ch with 3 skill points left over, 3 wasted skill points.

I agree as a Solo Rifle Ranger it is hard to bring in 10k of hide/bone and meat in one night, I think the best I ever did was 5k of bone in 3hrs. but even then that gets boring after a while, non baf lairs, 12 refreshes on mission terms. killing n00b creatures outside town etc.

Can't really say much else, but I find doing what you enjoy Is by far the most important thing.

I too dabbled in CH, hense my 2 pets (got to keep them even tho I'm not a CH any more). I'm still holding hope that Rifle(wo)men can do PvE to the degree the other proffs can.

I really feel for the TKA, not even the meger bonuses we do get apply...