Ranger Archive

---

Bethya wrote:

Very interesting news. I'm slightly peturbed by some of it but here are a few random comments and questions.

Big yay to seeing our SP requirement reduced. Breathing a big sigh of relief on that one.

Peturbed by the move away from the outdoorsman type role which is what I want to play. It looks as if it will still be feasible - tracking via the skills and schematics in the Pursuit & Countermeasures line, harvesting still coming from needing some Scout tree skills, and some bonuses to concealment which will help me considerably (I hate the toe to toe approach).

That said, I'd be extremely worried if we have to go Carbines. I don't know if I am understanding things correctly so please explain to me in words of one syllable if I've got it wrong but are we being told that we can't be Rifleman?

Some of the skills in this revamp look great and I love the idea of being unarmored in the wilderness, setting up traps, sitting back at a distance, tickling a lair and then watching the traps fly into action while I pick off the stragglers with conceal shot. If I lose Master Rifle will I lose that play style?

Ilike being a Master Rifle, I've always played Master Rifleand don't see why I should have to change. Added to that, I wouldn't fancy AT ALL having to grind my way up that tree. Some of us don't get the chance to play for hours on end every day. Which leads me to ask whether we'll get any chance to respec if we find that our valuable Master Rifle skills suddenly go out of the window.

I should add that I've not yet really understood all the CU rubbish so if I'm missing something, please do correct me. I'd appreciate it.

---

---

Bethya wrote:

Very interesting news. I'm slightly peturbed by some of it but here are a few random comments and questions.

Big yay to seeing our SP requirement reduced. Breathing a big sigh of relief on that one.

Peturbed by the move away from the outdoorsman type role which is what I want to play.(Then you need to stay Master Scout, since everything Ranger has now moved down to Scout. With the exception of those skills completely taken out, of course, like /areatrack).It looks as if it will still be feasible - tracking via the skills and schematics in the Pursuit & Countermeasures line, (which only work on humanoid targets, not on creatures) harvesting still coming from needing some Scout tree skills (the hunting line of scout will not be a requirement though), and some bonuses to concealment which will help me considerably (I hate the toe to toe approach) (just remember that the new version of camo/cloak/concealment has some limitations. Read the thread in the development forum for details).

That said, I'd be extremely worried if we have to go Carbines. I don't know if I am understanding things correctly so please explain to me in words of one syllable if I've got it wrong but are we being told that we can't be Rifleman? (you can still be a rifleman, but of course, you'd be wasting 14 skillpoints that way.)

Some of the skills in this revamp look great and I love the idea of being unarmored in the wilderness, setting up traps, sitting back at a distance, tickling a lair and then watching the traps fly into action while I pick off the stragglers with conceal shot. If I lose Master Rifle will I lose that play style? (It does not matter if you loose Rifleman or not, since the new Ranger traps do not work on creatures anyways, only NPCs and Players (overt ones, of course) )

Ilike being a Master Rifle, I've always played Master Rifleand don't see why I should have to change. Added to that, I wouldn't fancy AT ALL having to grind my way up that tree. Some of us don't get the chance to play for hours on end every day. Which leads me to ask whether we'll get any chance to respec if we find that our valuable Master Rifle skills suddenly go out of the window. (good question. don't have an answer for you, sadly.)

I should add that I've not yet really understood all the CU rubbish so if I'm missing something, please do correct me. I'd appreciate it.

---

Message Edited by SpiritWolf448 on 09-25-2005 07:00 AM

---

justinc9112 wrote:

so we are actually going to be able to steal. This is awesome thanks SOE!

---

000000000000000000Dyrwen Sy-X
000000000000000000
000000000000000000Imperial Master Ranger.
000000000000000000Meat Manager
000000000000000000Hide Heretic.
000000000000000000Bone Busybody.
000000000000000000
000000000000000000General PAC Man 
000000000000000000Penny Arcade Clan 
000000000000000000

Message Edited by wannabejedisith on 09-25-2005 11:12 PM

Hello once again.

I apologise for taking your time yet again, peeps, but I just need to rehash what's been going on and maybe get an answer or two as well. ^_^" So please, forgive me if you heard it all before (because you likely have).

Notice: What I am about to write is based on the info the Devs have given to us players, I don't know what goes on in the Devs heads or in the correspondent forums. Also, I am of course writing my personal opinion. I know fully well that others may disagree and have other points of view. I respect that.

Alright, with that out of the way, let's see....

Ranger is going to get a revamp. Great. We are changed from the current hunter/harvester type to a spy/rogue/thief/whatever mix. I know most don't like to hear the "holy grail" for them to be called such and prefer to say the new Ranger will be a spec-ops type of guy. Well, to me, it does not make a difference how you call it. If, for example, you take something doesn't belong to you without the owners consent, it is stealing, regardless why or for who you do it. The act stays the same, although different people have different words for it. But that may just be me. Anyways, what is known right now is this:

- Ranger will get a total overhaul
- the new traps will be modular and limited to NPC/SF Player characters
- there will be a new, strict rule set for camo/cloak/stealth
- all that is currently Ranger moves down to Scout (except those things taken out completely)
- the new Ranger will have Exp4/Carb4 as prerequisites, thus changing it from an elite prof to a hybrid one
- Ranger will not get any combat specials

So, with this list at hand, I thought a little (hard as it was ^_^" ) and came up with some questions. If a dev (or you, Calc, if you know from the corr forum and are allowed to tell) could answer these, I would appreciate it.

1. One of the biggest gripes of the old Rangers was their limitation to creatures only. Why on earth are the devs planning to limit them again, just this time towards humanoid targets? No other combat prof in the game is limited this way.

2. What will happen with the current sets of camo a Ranger may have stockpiled? Will they convert?

3. Why the change to a hybrid prof? Only to warrant the new prereqs? I mean, we are nowhere near the usefulness of other hybrids, limited as we are. So why change it?

4. Why the gating towards a specific weapon type? Only because the devs think it would fit their idea of Ranger best? Well, I got news for you, Devs. There are people out there who do not think the same way... surprising, no? I for one am amongst those who would like to keep Ranger an elite prof and thus keep it's diversity instead of artificially limiting it.

5. The skillpoint cost is not balanced. Why I say that? Easy. Suppose you would like to keep both Scout and Ranger. With the prerequisite of Exp4/Carb4, you are effectivley forced to take Carbineer as a combat prof, because otherwise the skillpoints won't be enough to master (and thus, no CL80 for you).

6. Suppose I would be okay with dropping Ranger and only keeping MScout (because I want to stay a hunter). Again, due to skillpoint limitations, there are few possibilites to reach the 2 elite/hybrid masteries needed for CL80. The melee people only have one possible way of doing so, in becoming MScout/MCreatureHandler/M(melee combat prof). The ranged people have more options, of course. They can mix MScout with either MCreatureHandler or MBountyHunter and take along their favourite ranged profession as well.
Strikes me as a little imbalance, to be honest.

7. How will the change be implemented? Will the current Rangers get a respec (*shudder*) or will we just get the carb line if we do not have it yet and be frozen in place until we have dropped enough boxes to bring our skillpoints below the 250 allowed? Of course, for us melee guys that would be quite hard...

8. Seeing as how limited Ranger is going to be yet again (no combat specials, traps limited to humanoids, camo being limited (it currently seems) in usefulness ect.), why can't we stay the elite support prof we are now and allow for far more diversity? If it is balance the devs seek (skillpoint wise), make the requirements for scouts trap4/surv4. That way, only the Squadleader (another support prof) would slightly overlap.

I know many, especially those totally sold on the current way the revamp looks, won't like this and say I whine or something. This is not the case. I am just not a model citizen (read: who shuts up and takes whatever he gets with a smile). If we don't speak up now for changes, it will be too late... if it isn't already. ^_^"

Anyways, flame on.

SW448

Message Edited by SpiritWolf448 on 09-26-2005 04:23 AM

Will I be able to go Master Commando and Master Ranger ? (43 pts lost only in useless prereq if it's possible :smileysad

Message Edited by NjallParker on 09-26-2005 07:36 AM

Of course, that does raise a new wrinkle for camo and trap crafting....

if the only way we can really control things like # of charges in a camo kit, or change things like fuse timer length, HEP battery life vs effectiveness, etc is thru crafting with experimentation...

and we CURRENTLY have the camps with built in crafting stations so we can craft w/experimentation on the fly...

and we're losing those camps as they all drop down to Scout (and maybe Master Scout for the HTFB)...

Rangers better start looking into what you can get in a combatdroid with crafting modules installed (or a harvest / crafting, trapping / crafting, whatever) !!!

Look, still some cool stuff for DEs. I imagine that it'll be close to a requirement for a Ranger to have a crafting droid they can pop out in the field, to be able to build the best HEP, camo and traps possible... If a DE wanted to be really smart and really making a killing, I'd think figuring out a "Ranger Special" droid would be a way to go, since it seems like lots of folks will be taking up Ranger. Maybe an Advance Probot w/enough combat skills to be a CL30, decent armor and attack, and whatever crafting modules are required to get a higher end crafting station in there (if possible)...