Ranger Archive

Is the ability to track characters worth it? Does it really work well enough to track people? does anyone know? I'd love to be able to but not if it doesn't work right.

I'm curious what exactly you would use this for. Maybe in some PvP way, but then, you still have to know what character to search for. Now if they have the feature where you can specify a profession, or even better yet, factional over covert.

For example, I want to track for all overt Imps in the area. I take my group of over rebels and go start some trouble. This would actually work very well into the whole rebels are the gorillas, they have to do surprise attacks, hit and run tactics. Using Rangers to find some overt factionals would be a great part of PvP, and make Rangers more group usable, and add into the Rebels tactics for the GCW. And yes of course the Imp Rangers, like that DeltaX guy ;-) could use it to find overt Rebels.

What do you guys think about that? Anyone use the /areatrack for players for anything yet?

Well personally i planned on using it to find those a holes who DB you and then run away so you can't find them to attack them back lol

Tracking IV may also increase your tracking range by 100m. Any confirmation?


In any case, tracking players could only be used effectively in PVP, almost no use in PVE.

I have Tracking IV, though I had it before the change, so it's hard for me to judge if there's an extension of range or other improvements over III or less. I will say my effective tracking range seems to be around 500m.

Tracking people does work, however, all you are given are names, direction, and distance. You don't get anything like faction alignment or other information. So, really, you would have to know the name of the person you are looking for.

This could be helpful when catching up to a group. As for tracking enemy players... if you know the name of the person, it should be possible to track their direction before they get out of tracking range, provided they weren't too far off to begin with and you do so quickly. 500m is a pretty good ways to run, but it does take about 15 seconds to complete your survey.

Hope this is helpful.

Tracking 4 isn't really worth is since all you do is get a minor harvesting bonus and that ability to track players is pretty useless, the only thing which might make it worthwhile is that when the /track skill comes in the more advanced skills will let you specify more dangerous species to find.

One possiblity is to use /who rebel or /who imperial to get a list of Rebs or Imps in your area, then /areatrack and see who pops up from your /who search.

How can you say that tracking players is worthless? Would you be happy if they just removed it from our abilities? So far it is the most reliable tracking since player characters don't have to spawn to track them. If they're in the area, they are on track.

I'm sure it can be used rather nicely in PvP, to track down hit-and-run guerillas. And if you already know of enemy factions in the area, you can use it to track them to thier base camp and set up an ambush.

It works great. I tracked a random player from the Northeast oasis, across the Eastern Dune Sea, all the way to Mos Taike, then out of Taike and onward to Entha where he must have logged or boarded a shuttle. I always stayed far enough behind so I would not appear on radar and I had no problems keeping up to him despite the tracking time. I can only assume that he had to weave around creatures while I could just sneak by them. I could navigate the terrain better so that I actually gained on him.

Why did I do this? Becuase it was a fun challenge. Does it have practical purposes in the game. I'm sure of it, especially in PvP.

I think it is great. I use player tracking all the time and it is a lot of fun.

I did a track for players and noticed one of my artisan guildmates 489m away to the west just outside of Kor'Vella.

I started tracking him. I stayed within 500m most of the time but lost him. After a while, and some attention, I started noticing his pattern and got ideas of where he was heading.

I kept tracking him and he shifted directions. Thought it may have been a bug, but followed it anyways.

He led me on a "chase" for over a good hour. I get near the city and I see -1 as a distance. I know that means he is in a building somewhere in the city. cool, he has stopped.

Next track, he is gone. Completely.

I send a /tell to him asking him innocently, "Where are ya?"
He replies, "Just got to Dantooine to check on my harvesters."

"What were you doing before that?" I reply

"Hunting some mountain murras near Kor'Vella".


I had a blast and he never knew it. I have done that a few times. This is the one thing that is currently keeping me as a ranger.

Costs 2 skill points, you get bonuses to harvesting,and the ability to area track players, which some people apparently do well and enjoy.

Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

Tracking IV has served me so well in extracting revenge. I'm a rebel at anchorhead, and too many times while doing a mission an overt imp will kill me from behind. or db me when I've already been incapped by an npc. Well, now that I have tracking, as soon as I clone I declare overt and hunt him down in seconds. OnceI get the direction I burstrun and before he even sees me he's dead (I use LLC). It REALLY works well, and they dont know what hit em.

I've also used Tracking to locate afk slicers. Several times I've been in need of a slice and the only available slicers were afk. I knew what city to go to from searching, i just had to use tracking and I wasright in front of themwhen they got back on.

I love the tracking skill.

You know... if they ever put player bounties for bounty hunters, well then player tracking would bea huge thing for them. I think that alone would make it worth keeping. Its a little different tracking a person, then it is tracking a stupid NPC that walks in a strait line across the map to the starport to jump planets.

to help to know who you're looking for just type /who imperial or /who rebel before you use the /areatrack <target> command, that way you know that you're looking for an imp or rebel specifically