Ranger Archive

disclaimer: I am relatively happy with ranger, so I don't want the following to come off as too negative. But these are things that I dream about in my high-tech field base at night, so I thought I'd list them:


bug / issue: on crowded servers, wild spawns are increasingly sparse. In some areas (ie., dath, tat. newbie cities), there will be swarms of the same critter (think those big blobs of nightsister spawns between you and the villiage), while other areas will be completely devoid of spawns. This is not only frustrating to those of us who like to hunt in the wild, but it also frustrates players in search of specialized component loot drops, as the lack of wild spawns forces players to 'camp' the same statically spawning creatures or turn to the mission terminals. Solution: I don't know - upgrade the server processor? look at the spawn code and see if there might be a way to reduce the large clumps of npcs and critters on tat and dath and redirect some of that processor power towards generating a more even distribution of wild spawns....

issue: the increase in the skillpoint requirements for elite ranged and melee professions took away a lot of the flexibility that we used enjoy with ranger. Possible solutions: 1) reduce the skill point requirements for ranger (not that great of a solution if it means a corresponding reduction in abilities) or 2) grant ranger some general ranged and melee offense and defensive mods in the ranger tree - this would go a long way to mitigating the skill point cost for ranger.

issue: we seem very creature-centric. While our traps (most of which, as Bio has noted, come from the scout tree) give us somewhat of an advantage over creatures, our relative lack of defensive and offensive mods leaves us vulnerable to high-level npcs. Is there a way that we could move away from the creature-centric version of ranger? perhaps if you let some of our traps affects npcs and *gasp* players.

issue: our camo and maskscent abilities really seem shabby in comparison to the new jedi cloak skills and the rifleman cover ability. Solution: make our camo ability function similiar to the jedi cloak ability. Make us disapear when camo'ed

bug / issue: gcw npcs do not seem to attack people who are camo'ed. This means that people can make a base-busting toon, camo him/her/it and blow up bases alone and unmolested. Adding turrets to the base seems to prevent this, but I don't think bases were meant to be taken down by a single toon. Solution: give GCW forces the ability to detect camo'ed players.

bug / issue: you can camo people from a long way off. I mean over 1000 meters, on another planet, etc... Solution: add a proximity check to the /conceal command.

bug / issue: you can't craft an agitator motor at the moment, so creature recyclers aren't craftable for those of us who can't afford 10,000,000 credits for an already-crafted agitator moment. Not technically a ranger bug / issue I know...

issue: our camps look cool, but the really are hurting in the functionality department. Solution: modular camps proposal or perhaps implementing a semi-permanent camp. I reallize that there are issues with terrain and lag here, as camps modify the terrain and this might lag people, but what if you changed the camp artwork so that semi-permanent camps were built on a platform that could adjust to the terrain (rather than having the terrain adjust to the camp). Also maybe work in some placement restrictions for these camps.

bug: the terrain does not update after you drop a camp. Solution: have the client update the terrain after a camp is dropped.

issue: our harvesting mods don't seem to affect the amount of fish we catch or the amount of milk we gather. Solution: tie the yields for fishing and milking to our harvest modes.

issue: the game is becoming increasingly loot-centric. Ranger, which has been resource-centric for a long time, seems a bit shabby, as none of our mods really help us compete in markets which are increasingly glutted with easy to obtain creature resources and in which we really have no advantage when it comes to getting the highly sought-after creature loot components. Solution: re-work our forage branch so that instead of being (or perhaps even in addition to being) able to forage goods from the ground, we can also have an increased chance of being able to cut a pearl from the gullet of a krayt or pry a few more armor scales from a voritor etc....

bug: Kashyyk camo doesn't work. Solution: review code implementation for kasshyyk camo kits....

bug: animals show up as npcs on areatrack and some npcs show up as animals. Solution: review classification system for mobs. put npcs in the people category and animals in the animal category. When in doubt, hold a vote or something....

bug / issue: the /examine command does not yield the extent of information about creatures that it used to. Solution: if it is possible post-cu, fill out this information again.

Iseult
Master Ranger / Mediocre Carbiner
Bloodfin

Get rid of the old "heave HO!!" trap animation for something that looks more like a "fling"kinda like a off to the side underhand throw. this would allow for a faster recover time between trap and weapons.

also add an agro trap that forces red creatures to attack your target.

Message Edited by Creaturetaimer on 07-20-2005 08:14 PM

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Zetargos wrote:

Issues

1. Ranger is a combat class we get combat bonuses yet we get no bonus to defenses or attacks....8 columns filled to be master ranger (counting the master scout of course) you can add combat bonuse for general range and melee accuaracy, and speed (to fit all ranger types) in one of these 8 columns keeping them seperated so that one column is not the new flavor of the week and even seperating them for instance trapping and camping 4 columns two in each class.

scout trapping gets melee accuracy while scout camping gets range speed

ranger trapping gets range accuracy while scout camping gets melee speed

that should cut down on people who are just using there last points to stack as best as possible

and then throw defense improvement under wayfarring because if you already mastered scout your probably going to master ranger

2. this arguement has been made 1 million times and I am making it 1 million and 1. If a trap can effect a creature as large as a krayt dragon then it to can effect a human. (for example....tranquilizer darts used on elephants could possibly kill humans only say possibly because some how one person always survives such as the man who fell thousand feet and only bounced off the ground ending up with minor bruises)

3. Traps need to be thrown faster, with a carbineer and pistoleer doing the same things as our traps we need to be able to throw them faster to even consider it an equal ability

4. We could use modifier bonuses on camo, maskscent, and traps....creature levels have adjusted we have stayed the same

5. New trap modifiers would be nice also I don't care if its a quest to get them but I like armor break and a trap to stop regeneration times or atleast slow regeneration times.

I know its a wish list but you ask Owen and I don't even think it should happen immediatly but something should start happening and I don't mean simple changes as the trap finally works right but rather an redoing and bring us up to speed with everyone else

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Can't forget the guy who was struck by lightining 5 times and lived.

Message Edited by Creaturetaimer on 07-20-2005 08:04 PM

I would like to say that as a new Ranger I find the lack of Defense Mods in Ranger disappointing. I'd like to offer the follwing suggestions to inmprove the Defense Mods in the Ranger Profession.

1. Give Rangers an Equal Amount of Renage and Melee Defense as other Combat Professions.

2. Allow Rangers to Wear Assualt Armor because we primarily deal with creatures, not NPC's and creature by and large attack with Kinetic Damage.

3. A Special Ranger Weapon for Novices and another for Master Rangers.

Thanks I hope this helps.

We don't have Ranger xp. It's all Scout xp.

Our foraging abilities should be somehow different than those of Scouts. Foraging modifiers should count for something other than success ratio, which I know for a fact isn't working 100% of the time at Master Ranger even with my +5 foraging tape I found on a vendor once.

Message Edited by Owen-Lars on 07-20-2005 08:14 PM

Issues

1. Ranger is a combat class we get combat bonuses yet we get no bonus to defenses or attacks....8 columns filled to be master ranger (counting the master scout of course) you can add combat bonuse for general range and melee accuaracy, and speed (to fit all ranger types) in one of these 8 columns keeping them seperated so that one column is not the new flavor of the week and even seperating them for instance trapping and camping 4 columns two in each class.

scout trapping gets melee accuracy while scout camping gets range speed

ranger trapping gets range accuracy while scout camping gets melee speed

that should cut down on people who are just using there last points to stack as best as possible

and then throw defense improvement under wayfarring because if you already mastered scout your probably going to master ranger

2. this arguement has been made 1 million times and I am making it 1 million and 1. If a trap can effect a creature as large as a krayt dragon then it to can effect a human. (for example....tranquilizer darts used on elephants could possibly kill humans only say possibly because some how one person always survives such as the man who fell thousand feet and only bounced off the ground ending up with minor bruises)

1. Ranger needs more/better traps - AoE root, one that lowers health regen, etc.



2. Combat Mods - We need some mods for improved defence and accuracy. Speed would be neat, but I think that defence and accuracy fit well into the mold of Ranger. We are a combat class yet are completely crippled by the SP we invest for no combat mods in return.



3. Specials - Just like every other combat prof, ranger could use 1 or 2 specials. While our traps do provide specials, it is slow to throw them, making it not as useful. I think one could ranger special that we could use with our weapons would be good.



4. Limited utility of Camps - camps really don't provide any benefit right now. There have been LOTS of great ideas on this front, such as MODULAR CAMPING PROPOSAL that would really be awsome.



5. Tracking While Mounted - an artisan can dig a hole in the dirt from inside his AV-21, but Rangers can't look left and right? c'mon.



6. Mask scent while mounted - um... everyone else can camo while mounted... hello!



7. Cost/Benefit of traps - Traps provide a very small benefit in a combat situation (such as the lower combat defence with wire mesh - VERY small difference). Traps are VERY slow to throw. Therefore, the benefit you get from the time it takes to throw the trap really isn't worth it. The throw speed needs to be improved and the effects need to be increased.



8. Foraged Items - Foraged items really aren't worth the time and effort.

I'm sure i'll think of more when I type up my list of bugs.

Thought of another one...

9. Tracking: Only tracks what spawns have "popped" in the area. This really diminished the utility of this skill since we aren't really tracking what's within 500m but, in theory, only what someone else has already seen within that radius.

Message Edited by Cryos_Merovingian on 07-20-2005 03:40 PM

Taken from Ken's test data summary on the corr boards:

Sonic Pulse:

Suposed to apply dizzy and stun states (AOE)

• As an elite level trap (Ranger Advanced Trapping4), 12 damage increase is worthlessconsidering you have to miss an attack round (possible1000++ hit).
  
• Whatwould anyone want to use this?

Flash Bomb:

Suposed to blind targets (AOE)

• Traps onlyincreases damage by 8 meaning not worth wasting a combat move touse trap.
  
• Why would anyone wantto use this when they can get another shot in?

My main problem is mostly /examine related, as a few others have mentioned. We got this whole "creature knowledge" part of our skill tree, yet examine yields nothing nowadays.

Let us see the resists, let us see their specials (if they have any), let that animal's base-to-hit number be accurate rather than based around a strange level that is no longer the creature's actual level. I somehow doubt a Krayt only hits me for 250-400 when it slaps me for 1k a piece fully armored.

Personally the /examine thing is about the only minor, yet somehow major, piece of rangering I really miss that seems like it should work as intended no matter what. There are plenty of other issues, the camps not stopping creatures, the traps not working, but eh, I just want to be able to know all there is to know about these creatures when I see them.

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Pharrel wrote:
I would like to say that as a new Ranger I find the lack of Defense Mods in Ranger disappointing. I'd like to offer the follwing suggestions to inmprove the Defense Mods in the Ranger Profession.

1. Give Rangers an Equal Amount of Renage and Melee Defense as other Combat Professions.

2. Allow Rangers to Wear Assualt Armor because we primarily deal with creatures, not NPC's and creature by and large attack with Kinetic Damage.

3. A Special Ranger Weapon for Novices and another for Master Rangers.

Thanks I hope this helps.

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How about getting a WP to the highlighted entry on the lastpage of the Areatrack window?

Armor
People have asked for assault, Rolfie makes a good argument for battle. I'd like to point out that all three armor types can be crafted for high kinetic resists. Tell your armorsmith what you want. Better yet, find other rangers and place a group order. I banded together with other Riflemen to get high-kinetic recon suits.

Survival/Frontiering
These Scout and Ranger trees are completely useless. Just a skill point sink. That's all there is to say.

Traps
I'm actually OK with traps not affecting NPCs. The whole argument with Scout/Ranger seems to be that we punch above our weight with animals (like if our Creature To-Hit Bonuses worked) and that's something we can freely ask for because it can't unbalance PvP. That's why trap states should continue to not break with damage.

Rescue
Useless, even when I've wanted it to work as described. Shouldn't our skill be akin to Ben Kenobi making that Krayt yell? We should be able to make animals run away, like Warning Shot used to.

Camoflauge
My favorite Ranger skill, except on Kashyyyk where it only prevents "stalking". But not enough people use it because when you gain the skill, you drop from +100 Maskscent to +20 Camoflauge. Camo should work against animals at the higher of your Maskscent and Camo skills.

Skill point cost
Our infamous requirement for a complete basic profession. This is a touchy subject between those who want the skill points for Ranger reduced and those who want it worthwhile. I argue for reducing the Novice Ranger requirements to less than full Scout, but making the unrequired parts of Scout worthwhile to Rangers who gain them. That would hit a balance for both sides and make Ranger less of an exclusive "you're one of us or not" profession. We could start by ejecting Survival, which no one would miss until it was turned into something useful.