Ranger Archive

Thread: Making a Trap Master a Master of Traps

Nemo0
Sat Apr 03, 2004 11:48 am
#1




OK. I'm tired of traps being useless. The dedicated trapping thread has a few nice ideas on how this could be fixed but some of them require going back and changing Scout as well. I propose a new method for comment. The focus here is on giving us something extremely useful without requiring too much change.


First off, I believe that traps should be able to affect any non-droid in the game. The only major problem with this is using traps on other players. I will discuss some of the problems with this at the end (along with some potential solutions but not enough). Reasons for this:

1. The obvious logical ones (why can a trap effect a krayt but not a human?).

2.BH stems off scout. Why can't they gain any benefit from their scouting experience other than terrain negotiation? They will end up hunting humanoids. Let them practice their trapping skills on those instead of creatures.

3. Letting players trap in PvP would be a very useful skill. It would allow the Ranger to add status effects to large groups, turning the Ranger into a PvP debuffer.

4.The obvious logical ones.


OK, the basis of the new trapping set up would be a modular one. Scout Trapping could stay exactly like it is. Ranger traps would have certs and schems spread in the Ranger trapping tree (with a possible level one ranger trap cert coming in at Master Scout). There would be7 different trap shells. Certs for the trap shells would come one level below where they can be crafted (i.e. a Master Scout has a cert for the Novice Ranger shell, Novice Ranger has a cert for the Trapping 1 shell). The 7th shell would be a Master Ranger cert and schem (2 schems at Master). Each trap would have a number of slots for effects/enhancers. The lowest trap would have 2 slots. The best trap would have 8 slots. Each level in between adds one slot.


Sounds simple so far, right? This is where it gets interesting. Instead of making it so that there is one best trap for all situations, let the design of traps actually matter. Experimentation will not play a factor in the crafting of the traps. This is because I don't want resources to effect what traps will come out (let us just use whatever resources are around--I don't want to have to stockpile). All that should matter is how we put the traps together. Rangers should not care how soft their hides are. And the system is complex enough without experimentation.


Types of effects/enhancers that can be put into slots:

Novice:


Dizzy

Stun

Blind


Trapping 1:

Trap Power(makes the trap more likely to affect larger creatures)

Snare (phenacine dart effect)


Trapping 2:


Lure (i.e. single pull)

Melee Defense Down (Wire Mesh)


Area Effect (add an AoE effect to the trap)


Trapping 3:

Extra Trap Uses (bigger stack size)

Ranged Defense Down (Glow Juice)

Root (adhesive mesh effect)


Trapping 4:


Knockdown

Sleeping Gas (forces the target to peace. Will resume attacking if attacked)


Master:

Armor Rating reduction (drop a creature from light to none, medium to light, heavy to medium, NOT cumulative, shows the weaknesses in the target's armor)


I don't think we should be going for trap damage. Combat Medic poisons/diseases are the Damage over Time traps. Commando grenades are the instant damage traps. We get the state effect traps.


Trapping base effectiveness is determined by the skill mod. This is left as it is. To trap larger creatures effectively you have to use the Trap Power enhancer. To trap something like an Ancient Krayt, a Gorax,or a Nightsister Elder one wants to use a Master only trap with 7 Trap Power enhancers and 1 trap effect (with maybe a 25-50% chance of success). For something like a rancor, you would want 2 or 3 Trap Power enhancers to get almost 100% accuracy. Area Effect and Extra Trap Uses can also be used multiple times for larger AoE radii and larger stack sizes. Throwing distance should be raised to 64m and should be static (I don't want a 80-90m bug showing up). The AoE could be something like 5m per used slot (so 7 slots would give a 35m AoE).


Such a system allows a Master Ranger to have tons of different trap combinations. The trap graphical effect should be based on what effects it causes (so a trap with Sleeping Gas andBlind would have a bright flash with a stream of smoke coming out of it). The enhancers would change the size and brightness of the effect (AoE would give you a larger graphical effect, Trap Power would give a brighter flash, thicker smoke, etc).


Such a system is not overpowered. By limiting Rangers to only using state effects, they are given a combat role without encroaching on any other profession. The only major problem is for PvP. An AoE dizzy/knockdown or an AoE root or an AoE armor rating reduction could be devestating. The limited AoE effect should mitigate this somewhat. If this was combined with a low default chance of success (treat players as CL 100 or CL 150), one could limit the power. To have a decent chance of the trap having any effect, one would need several power enhancers. This reduces the number of state effects that one trap can cause and limits the size of the AoE that can be produced (a 5m AoE dizzy/knockdown with a 75% chance of hitting is not overpowered for a Master level skill).


Edit 2: Snare and Root would allow PvP kiting to be a bit too easy. Maybe we should make it so that it ends as soon as the player is hit? Use it to close on a ranged player or to get some distance on a melee player but don't allow kiting per say. Also, make sure it works on players on vehicles. Use it to stop that Jedi from running off so quickly.


Edit: Forgot to mention--resource requirements should be on par with the effect's usefulness. Make the Armor Rating reduction require a resource from every planet. But most of the resources should be creature based. Only basic artisan based classes should be used (like metal or polymer or gemstone, not something that only spawns once every 6 months). I don't want to have to find a shift of some uber rare resource to make a trap. I should be able to use almost anything around for them.


And remember, our traps are meant to be the envy of military weapon designers (or something like that).


Any thoughts on this? I'm sure I don't have everything in here but I don't feel like typing too much more. I hope the general idea comes across reasonably well, though.


Lythender Nirou
Master Ranger/Master Rifleman
Eclipse Server


Edit 3: added ranged and melee debuff effects.

Message Edited by Nemo0 on 04-03-2004 06:54 PM


Message Edited by Nemo0 on 04-03-2004 07:02 PM

Message Edited by Nemo0 on 04-05-2004 07:56 PM



Lythender Nirou
Crazy Bothan


Nemo0
Sat Apr 03, 2004 2:18 pm
#2






777erc wrote:
I like. Best plan ive heard for traps yet. Im a little confused with the enhancers?? Would these be a second or third... effect piece put into the trap making the effect more powerfull? Or do they make the accuracy better. And can u put a diffrent trap effects together like a blind, stun and dizzy trap.







I had considered the idea of using multiples of each effect to determine if it hit but this caused one slight problem: each effect would have a different chance of hitting. Instead, I included a "Trap Power" enhancer that can be stacked to make the trap more likely to hit. I'm not sure on the specifics (as I haven't seen the code) but this seems like it would be easier to implement. Checking each effect seperately needs a lot more checks. Although I do prefer that option. As for adjusting the power of the effect, I'm not sure how feasible that is. Does anyone know how effects actually work? I think accuracy is probably the easiest thing to play with and adding other options would be harder (but better).


And part of the point of the idea is to put multiple effects together. I wanted something where you could make a trap that would actually be useful. A trap that can put lots of states on a lower level creature is useful (at least it's a lot more useful than what we currently have). A trap that can put a couple of states on a lot of midlevel creatures is useful. A trap that can put a state on really high level creature is useful. This system lets you make a trade off. You can have a lot of states on one lower level creature, a couple of states on a group of mid level creatures, and a decent chance of a state on a high level creature. And this lets you make a trade off between chance of hitting, number of effects, stack size, and AoE. Experimentation would only further complicate the system and cause us to waste good resources.


Lythender Nirou
Master Ranger/Master Rifleman
Eclipse Server




Lythender Nirou
Crazy Bothan


AgonThalia
Sat Apr 03, 2004 2:35 pm
#3

A trap would be able to knock down would be a variation of a bolo-type trap. This trap would be a weighted spur on a rope that would entangle and potentially knock down the target in question.

Look at some of the aboriginal weapons in Australia, the bolo that they use wraps around the legs, entangling them and allowing their foward momentum to hurl their enemy to the ground, where he is easily dispatched.

Other cultures from "so-called primitive" such as the Aztec, Mayan, Native American have used variations of the bolo weapon/ trap all the way to modern SWAT teams that sometimes have a high powered ballistic bolo weapon that can incapacitate and knock down a target.

This would be a valuable addition to our arsenal.

NemoO

nice job, by far one of the best additions and fine-tuning ideas on traps ive seen in a while.



Draknev
The Last Ranger Correspondent
Subterfuge and Sabotage, Concealment and Camouflage:
Colonel: Rebel Alliance

Nemo0
Sat Apr 03, 2004 2:44 pm
#4






GTOfire wrote:

I simply love the sleeping gas and AR reduction trap for their possibilities.


A few things though:


1. how does a trap knock something down? It'd be more of a grenade really, I don't really think it fits, but that's just me.


A trap to knockdown would just need to have some sort of shockwave. Look at something like a hurricane--it can knockdown a house without too much trouble. Sending some sort of pressure wave should be able to knockdown a creature or an NPC. The other option is something like Bolas. They wrap up the targets legs causing them to fall over. There are lots of ways a knockdown trap could work.


2. AR reduction is VERY powerful, and I do mean VERY. Using a medium armour sword I do almost double the damage on a none-armour enemy then on a light-armour target. I also think that a Ranger KNOWS where the armour is weak, and can point it out to fellow players, but how would a trap do that? Again, I just don't see it. I'd much rather see this ability as a natural Creature Knowledge perk that makes us more effective by default. If there is an AR reduction trap, I reckon it'd be better to have a -10% resists reduction, because a whole AR level is a LOT.


AR reduction is very powerful only on targets that actually have armor. And the idea is to make it powerful. Only a Master Ranger can make a trap like that. A lower level player could use it but a lower level player can also have buffs and wear armor. But they still would need at least Master Scout and they would be relying on a Master Ranger to make the trap for them. And they wouldn't be able to hit anything big with it. Plus, an AR reduction is much easier than a -10% resist reduction. And you are still better off using a weapon they are vulnerable to. And the increase is 25% if you have a higher AP weapon or double damage for a lower AP weapon. As long as the resource requirements are large and the effect is reasonably short, this can work. If I had to use over 100 resources from multiple planets to make a set of the traps, they would be expensive. And let's say the reduction lasts for only 10 seconds. Double damage for 10 seconds for such a large costseems reasonable to me. And it would have a very low chance of hitting unless you stacked it with some power enhancers (remember that armor only starts to come in at CL 50 or so).


3. Okay, so according to the whole system you describe, at Master Ranger I can craft a trap that does dizzy, stun, blind, knockdown, root, has extra uses, reduces their armour and doesall that on an area of effect. Hell yeah, I love it. But erm... considering our current highest level traps have two state effects at most, I reckon 8 slots is a little too much. A solution would be to have 3 slots maximum, with one slotbeing10 seconds duration, and if you add another slot with the same type, it becomes 30, another slot of the same type and it becomes 45.


Think of it this way. You can craft the trap you want listed above. But, with the number of slots used, you would only have about a 5m AoE (not much) and it would have trouble hitting anything larger than CL 20 or so (for a Master Ranger). If you wanted to use something like that on a rancor nest, you would need to put a few power enhancers in. And you would also probably want a larger AoE, meaning more of the AoE enhancers have to go in. Which would then limit the number of the effects you could actually use. So you could have an uber durni trap as listed above or you could have something that traps rancors in a radius of 10m and dizzy/stuns them with a 95% chance of success. And that could be using an 8 slot trap. The actual balance issues would need to be worked out for it but the whole idea is to let you make an uber trap for low levels and a decent trap for harder stuff.


So you craft a trap with three slots, you can choose to make it a 45 second blind, or a 10 second blind, stun and dizzy, a KD and a 10 second dizzy (KD being a powerful PvP tool, it could require 2 slots, same for AoE)

the AR would require all three slots, stuff like that.


This might be better but it might require alot more coding. The power enhancer above is not meant to adjust the strength of the effects (as I'm not sure how hard that would be to code in), only the ability for the effect to hit. If it's not too hard to code up, I'd love to be able to adjust the actual power of the effects but I'm guessing that would be a lot more work. You could do that by sticking multiples of the effect into slots. As for stuff like the AR reduction, remember that only big creatures have any AR at all. So you would almost be forced to use several of the other slots for power enhancers. If the different effects could hit or miss on the same trap (i.e. you have a chance to knockdown that is different from the chance to dizzy) then the best idea (in my mind) is to remove the power enhancer and make it so that you have to use multiples of the same effect to increase that effects power. So you could make a trap with a 10% chance to add all the states to a decent level mob or you could choose a few of the effects to concentrate on. The idea of the power enhancer came because I think it is much harder to code in different success levels for the different effects. The 8 slots are there so you can have something like an 10-15m AoE stun/blind that can actually hit a rancor with a decent chance of success.


4. aside from the above points, I love the concept of modular traps


I think the specifics might need a bit of work but I like them too.






Lythender Nirou
Master Ranger/Master Rifleman
Eclipse Server



Lythender Nirou
Crazy Bothan


Nemo0
Sat Apr 03, 2004 3:04 pm
#5


Hmm, I didn't mention anything about ground traps. But, amazingly, they are easy in this system. Just make a shell that you leave on the ground rather than throw. If anything passes that spot, act as if the trap hit it. And, for the lure effect, just make the target the creature you target when placing the trap.


Also, I just had a thought about a funny joke--an AoE lure trap. Throw the trap at a creature and everything within 10m of it comes as well. The proposal above could make for some very useless traps as well (but still fun ones).


Edit: Another thought--make the AR reduction trap only for your group. Not essential but might be worth considering.


Lythender Nirou
Master Ranger/Master Rifleman
Eclipse Server

Message Edited by Nemo0 on 04-03-2004 10:07 PM



Lythender Nirou
Crazy Bothan


777erc
Sat Apr 03, 2004 5:08 pm
#6


I think i like this idea so much because it is simple and flexible. Now if i can be adapted a little for camps. I know the outdoorsman has a similar camp concept but i think its a little to complicated.



Narrec Plac
Chilastra
Pistoleer, Fencer, CH
Calculus_Entropy
Sat Apr 03, 2004 10:57 pm
#7

Ranger Calc's thoughts: I like most of it. I like how you balanced the Master level traps such that you can have many states, but can only use it on lower level creatures, and vice versa. I am not too keen on AR reduction. Seems too powerful.


Corespondent Calc's thoughts: You tried to keep it simple?!?!?! You failed!!! . For everyone's knowledge, the devs make it sound like adding certs is a pain and a last resort (unofficial comment here).



Calculus Entropy
Ranger Blue Glowie Emeritus
Garindan used /areatrack to find Han.
JediQuic
Sat Apr 03, 2004 11:58 pm
#8






Calculus_Entropy wrote:

Ranger Calc's thoughts: I like most of it. I like how you balanced the Master level traps such that you can have many states, but can only use it on lower level creatures, and vice versa. I am not too keen on AR reduction. Seems too powerful.


Corespondent Calc's thoughts: You tried to keep it simple?!?!?! You failed!!! . For everyone's knowledge, the devs make it sound like adding certs is a pain and a last resort (unofficial comment here).







Ehhh? Just how the hell do they Expect to Fix Trapping without adding certs for new traps? Seems like a logical progression to me...."Rangers want more BETTER traps....Ok Give them better traps, But don't add Certs for em....thats to hard and makes my head hurt".....Heh. I don't see how the can Improve Traping without adding certs, in a way to prevent Master Rangers Selling Supper traps to Novice scouts, like doctors selling stim B's, And if that were the case it would CERTAINLY break the game. Maybe if they added Just the Schematics and Put Requierd traping mod restrictions on each level of the Shell, Without Expirementation on them it would Pretty much mean you have to be master ranger to use a master trap and so on down threw the line


I would have to agree that the AR reduction would be a little insane, Both in PvE and PvP.....That would also be "To hard" to program/code i imagine....Perhaps a Defense Debuff, *Throw trap, Target looses 100 Melee and Ranged Defense* Kinda like our already existing traps. It would Still be VERY Benificial, Yet Not as Game breaking as basicly droping EVERY creature in the game 1 AR to establish balance.....And i have no idea what the effects would be in PvP....I'm picturing Double damage mode?



Anyhow, the Rest i Absolutly LOVE! the Power Modules idea is Freakin AWESOME! i don't know how the would code it to work, but it Still Rocks! Maybe with Just General "Component" slots that any trap component can be droped in, each with its own effects? Wait a min....thats what you said isn't it?

777erc
Sun Apr 04, 2004 1:41 am
#9

I like. Best plan ive heard for traps yet. Im a little confused with the enhancers?? Would these be a second or third... effect piece put into the trap making the effect more powerfull? Or do they make the accuracy better. And can u put a diffrent trap effects together like a blind, stun and dizzy trap.



Narrec Plac
Chilastra
Pistoleer, Fencer, CH
GTOfire
Sun Apr 04, 2004 1:52 am
#10

I simply love the sleeping gas and AR reduction trap for their possibilities.


A few things though:


1. how does a trap knock something down? It'd be more of a grenade really, I don't really think it fits, but that's just me.


2. AR reduction is VERY powerful, and I do mean VERY. Using a medium armour sword I do almost double the damage on a none-armour enemy then on a light-armour target. I also think that a Ranger KNOWS where the armour is weak, and can point it out to fellow players, but how would a trap do that? Again, I just don't see it. I'd much rather see this ability as a natural Creature Knowledge perk that makes us more effective by default. If there is an AR reduction trap, I reckon it'd be better to have a -10% resists reduction, because a whole AR level is a LOT.


3. Okay, so according to the whole system you describe, at Master Ranger I can craft a trap that does dizzy, stun, blind, knockdown, root, has extra uses, reduces their armour and doesall that on an area of effect. Hell yeah, I love it. But erm... considering our current highest level traps have two state effects at most, I reckon 8 slots is a little too much. A solution would be to have 3 slots maximum, with one slotbeing10 seconds duration, and if you add another slot with the same type, it becomes 30, another slot of the same type and it becomes 45.

So you craft a trap with three slots, you can choose to make it a 45 second blind, or a 10 second blind, stun and dizzy, a KD and a 10 second dizzy (KD being a powerful PvP tool, it could require 2 slots, same for AoE)

the AR would require all three slots, stuff like that.


4. aside from the above points, I love the concept of modular traps



--------------------------------------------------
Ysh-Hon Eeryuu
General Manager, Intergalactic Society of Megalomaniacs (ISM) Enterprises
ISM Superstore - Tatooine (outside Bestine) -1735, -4917

M Tailor, M Artisan, M Merchant
JBMat
Sun Apr 04, 2004 5:05 am
#11

I like the idea/ideas.


Only thing I would add is somehow interlink trapping and hunting to make the Devs happy and to help tone down the dabblers. More work, but brings more balance. Fact is, interlink survival (you get the ability to make the trap - the schematic - possibly using the craft machines in the camps) with trapping, the ability to use the trap. Without both, failure.


Even without that - wellt thought out


JB


GTOfire
Sun Apr 04, 2004 6:19 am
#12

yeah, it'd be a lot simpler to have the power of things high by default, and limit the number of things you can inflict. It'd be a real pain to experiment exactly how many power enhancers I need to trap a Rancor or a Krayt Dragon. I can imagine a huge animal like a Krayt would require 7, in which case I'd get 1 effect, in which case it'd be simpler to craft a regular sonic pulse or whatever, since that works on Krayts too.


It's not a bad concept to have the uber for simple and decent for high level, but let's face it, how often do we master rangers trap CL20 animals? I'd rather not worry about the amount of power enhancers required to make something work for what I'm hunting, if that means I can only inflict three states, I'm fine with that.





--------------------------------------------------
Ysh-Hon Eeryuu
General Manager, Intergalactic Society of Megalomaniacs (ISM) Enterprises
ISM Superstore - Tatooine (outside Bestine) -1735, -4917

M Tailor, M Artisan, M Merchant
Nemo0
Sun Apr 04, 2004 9:10 am
#13






JediQuic wrote:





Calculus_Entropy wrote:

Ranger Calc's thoughts: I like most of it. I like how you balanced the Master level traps such that you can have many states, but can only use it on lower level creatures, and vice versa. I am not too keen on AR reduction. Seems too powerful.


Corespondent Calc's thoughts: You tried to keep it simple?!?!?! You failed!!! . For everyone's knowledge, the devs make it sound like adding certs is a pain and a last resort (unofficial comment here).







Ehhh? Just how the hell do they Expect to Fix Trapping without adding certs for new traps? Seems like a logical progression to me...."Rangers want more BETTER traps....Ok Give them better traps, But don't add Certs for em....thats to hard and makes my head hurt".....Heh. I don't see how the can Improve Traping without adding certs, in a way to prevent Master Rangers Selling Supper traps to Novice scouts, like doctors selling stim B's, And if that were the case it would CERTAINLY break the game. Maybe if they added Just the Schematics and Put Requierd traping mod restrictions on each level of the Shell, Without Expirementation on them it would Pretty much mean you have to be master ranger to use a master trap and so on down threw the line


That's the idea. I just figured certs were easier than giving required use levels. Either way works.


I would have to agree that the AR reduction would be a little insane, Both in PvE and PvP.....That would also be "To hard" to program/code i imagine....Perhaps a Defense Debuff, *Throw trap, Target looses 100 Melee and Ranged Defense* Kinda like our already existing traps. It would Still be VERY Benificial, Yet Not as Game breaking as basicly droping EVERY creature in the game 1 AR to establish balance.....And i have no idea what the effects would be in PvP....I'm picturing Double damage mode?


The idea is to give the Master something really powerful. As it is, /strafeshot2 (a Master Rifleman attack) does a LOT more than double damage. I'm guessing most combat professions have attacks that can do similar. And, for anything big, you really would want a Master Ranger throwing the trap to have a good chance of success. As it is, I've been on Krayt hunts where it took almost an hour to kill the krayt (it was an ancient, 95% resists to everything, heavy armor). That was with over 20 people shooting at it. And it still had no loot. A trap like this would have made it a bit easier. And the power could be offset by extremely high resource costs. Look at the people wearing 90% resist composite. That's a lot more powerful than this trap would be. And it is just strong enough to turn a PvP battle from a loss into a victory. Sort of like a CM can currently do. Or a Doctor. Or what a Squad Leader should be able to do. And those are all support professions. And, by making players close to a krayt in CL for trapping, you would really want a lot of power enhancers in any trap you use in PvP.


Anyhow, the Rest i Absolutly LOVE! the Power Modules idea is Freakin AWESOME! i don't know how the would code it to work, but it Still Rocks! Maybe with Just General "Component" slots that any trap component can be droped in, each with its own effects? Wait a min....thats what you said isn't it?







Lythender Nirou
Master Ranger/Master Rifleman

Eclipse Server



Lythender Nirou
Crazy Bothan


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