Ranger Archive
Thread: State of the Profession (Dec. 5)
First, NRass, you are a model all other proffesion reps should follow.
Second, Enoshima, I want to second your idea of a few addintional pet levels for Ranger. The president is there with Bounty Hunters. They get carbine and pistol mods in their tree even though they are not pistoleers or carbineers. Rangers some nature affinity no matter what "ranger model" you use (Aragorn, Park, etc.), so they should have some potential creature impact. Perhaps a few extra Pet levels (progessive up a column to master)and a special effect or two (somthing like enrgage pets but different). This is particulary interesting given the CH changes coming.
I also want to ask for some expansion of the "Ranger Weaon" beyond the "composite bow" thingy. Iwill use Bounty Hunter asan example, there are BH only weapons and they get modifications of the weapon classes (speed and accuracy). Therefore it does not seem unreasonable to adda special weapon (akin BH lightning cannon)ORjust a unique weapon in an existing class (rifle comes to mind, as BH got carbine and pistol elties, give a special rifle eliteand specialmods/moves to Ranger - rifles come to mind when you think of modern or sci-fi hunting). Minimally some special attackssimilar to the ranged support under marksman(call it Ranger Support 
) could be added.
From what I read in these forums, a general consenus exists that just a little more weight needs to be put into the combat side. I get a feeling that the "Aragorn" style ranger model would have the most support..one that can camp, forage, track, and still have some "elite skill"fighting perk.
Personally I would give up traps at the ranger level all together for a special weapon and a few special attacks instead. Heck, just add Sonic Pulse to Master Scout, drop all the rest of the ranger traps, and add in a special ranger weapon with a few special moves. Case closed. If only that easy!
Lastly, and my biggest pet peave: "Item Discarded because Inventory is full" when it is not full...now I know this is a place holder for the 'rare item'. This should be a TOP item to deal with. It is promised in the existing documentation "chance of foraging a rare item". I remember reading about this 'rare item' and it was part of why I started down the ranger path. When I got to ranger, only then did I find out my rare item is 'an undiscosed discarded item'. This is such as easy gimme to the Ranger community! Add a few rare items, such as a root that heals wounds or BF? Or afruit that gives a buff that would actually be useful (maybe something like a 1000 boost to strength for 10 mins)? Or a rare moss that cures poison or strong disease for one use when you eat it.
I shall be quiet now...again thanks for the great work NRaas.
Mokk - Master Ranger, Gorath
LoWangg wrote:
From what I read in these forums, a general consenus exists that just a little more weight needs to be put into the combat side. I get a feeling that the "Aragorn" style ranger model would have the most support..one that can camp, forage, track, and still have some "elite skill"fighting perk.
I think thats apretty accurateassessment myself. I personally would love to have a little more offensive power as a Ranger without having to rely on a combat profession like Pistoleer.
LoWangg wrote:
Personally I would give up traps at the ranger level all together for a special weapon and a few special attacks instead. Heck, just add Sonic Pulse to Master Scout, drop all the rest of the ranger traps, and add in a special ranger weapon with a few special moves. Case closed. If only that easy!
I would like to second this idea. Even with new traps on the way, I'd prefer having a Ranger-only weapon to give us a little more combat power on our own. I know a Ranger-only weapon that causes state affects like traps is in the State of the Profession, but I'd like a general purpose, normal-damage-causing weaponlike the llc is to the Bounty Hunters. At the very least I'd likefor some of the new traps we are supposed to receive to cause actual DAMAGE and not just state changes. Perhaps an electric stun grenade type trap that, when thrown, sends an electric current through the victim and damages it?
Lastly, and my biggest pet peave: "Item Discarded because Inventory is full" when it is not full...now I know this is a place holder for the 'rare item'. This should be a TOP item to deal with. It is promised in the existing documentation "chance of foraging a rare item". I remember reading about this 'rare item' and it was part of why I started down the ranger path. When I got to ranger, only then did I find out my rare item is 'an undiscosed discarded item'. This is such as easy gimme to the Ranger community! Add a few rare items, such as a root that heals wounds or BF? Or afruit that gives a buff that would actually be useful (maybe something like a 1000 boost to strength for 10 mins)? Or a rare moss that cures poison or strong disease for one use when you eat it.
Again, I've got to agree. The rare itembug is annoying. And I believe the herbal medicine / moss idea is already in the State of the Profession list. Great post.
I actually came here to suggest two things that I didn't quite see in your report in the form I envision them.
First would be a lure or bait. A device or trap rangers could use to lure cratures from their pack. this was sort of touched on in the tranquilizer dart idea, but I think it could be more. The bait would be made crature speciffic so for example say rancors are partial to purbole meat, I would need to get an ammount of purbole meat and wrap it up in a leaf or something (craft it with some kind of forraged item) and then I get rancor bait. the bait or lure could be both thrown or "equipped" to achieve two effects. throw it to draw the creature(s) away from you and the lair, or "equip" it to draw the creature(s) towards me. when thrown, the bait would occupy the creature for some time while a baby is tamed, or a corpse is harvested. when "equipped" it could be effective in drawing a pack animal to a safe distance where it can be attacked without much risk of the others coming to their aide. of course this would focus the creature's attention on the ranger putting him at great risk without there being a party to swiftly dispatch the creature. The quality of the bait would determine how interested the creature would be or how much time it would spend finding it or following it and the quality would be determined by the ranger's skill either when crafting it or using it.
Poisons and status effects could also be added to the baits at risk of the creature detecting the impurity, but affecting the creature prior to engaging it in battle if successful. Generic baits could even be made and sold to non rangers to be used with much less effect, and only effective at all on low level creatures.
more than one bait or lure in an area would confuse the beasts and render all of them useless.
My second suggestion is for rangers to be able to craft "utility camps" to be sold to non scouts/rangers. these camps would provide no medical healing benefits whatsoever and would be used meerly to call a pet/vehicle in the wilderness and to log out safely. they also would not exist for very long. "utility camps" could be crafted maybe at the third level of the survival tree where I believe there currently is nothing. Survival experience would be granted by crafting this item but only in the ammount equal to or even less than that granted for basic camps.
Some may argue that this would remove the need for rangers in a group, but I feel that this point is mute since more people have basic scout skills as it is either by virtue of their elete profession (BH and CH) or just having picked up scout for this very reason to be able to build basic camps in the wilderness to call their pet or vehicle. Besides, the market for this item would largely be players who largely solo and would never rely on another's scout skills in the first place.
there you have it. keep up the good work, and the good fight.
"A device or trap rangers could use to lure cratures from their pack."
The lure trap is described in the Holocron post at the top of the forum, and is presumed as "in the works", so I don't bother to list it in the list. 
""utility camps" to be sold to non scouts/rangers. these camps would provide no medical healing benefits"
Yes... This idea is quite contentious, and I would get my butt kicked by DeltaXi65 (a staunch opponent of this idea) if I were to list it without overwhelming support from the community. 
[Edit: opposer -> opponent... Me english good. ]
Message Edited by NRaas on 12-08-2003 09:13 PM
NRaas wrote:
Request for a Baby Creature Trap
- The trap would be used on an existing baby creature with the chance of trapping the creature alive
- Once trapped, the creature would be stored in the Datapad
- The only option on a trapped creature would be to release it
- Once released, a Creature Handler could then attempt to train the creature
Ok, Instead of putting it in your datapad, turn it into a creature deed. they already have that coded in for Bio Engineers, cept ours come from a crafting station. The animal can be traded normally and wont grow in your data pad till it's bee tamed. This way, you wont have rangers running around with animals they cant trade in their datapads.
"Ok, Instead of putting it in your datapad, turn it into a creature deed."
Hmmm...
- Bio-Engineers can utilize deeds for their creatures because they trade in DNA and not an actual creature persay (though how that DNA magically becomes a creature is beyond my tiny brain).
Now I guess we could do a "DNA trap" thing and sell the resultsto the Bio-Engineer profession, but that doesn't sound very outdoorsy to this Ranger.
NRaas wrote:"A device or trap rangers could use to lure cratures from their pack."
The lure trap is described in the Holocron post at the top of the forum, and is presumed as "in the works", so I don't bother to list it in the list.
""utility camps" to be sold to non scouts/rangers. these camps would provide no medical healing benefits"
Yes... This idea is quite contentious, and I would get my butt kicked by DeltaXi65 (a staunch opponent of this idea) if I were to list it without overwhelming support from the community.
[Edit: opposer -> opponent... Me english good.
Message Edited by NRaas on 12-08-2003 09:13 PM
fair enough;
also, forgive me if you touched on this as it may have been one of the areas I skimmed over but is maskscent working as intended? I mean, I don't have any complaints about how often it breaks, or how often it aggros a creature (that all feels about right to me), but I think it is kind of silly that I can walk into the middle of a baz nitch nest with mask scent not broken and have them pay no attention to me. could there be some kind of visual check within a certain distance, say 30m, where a creature facing you would see you and break your maskscent. you could still get right up behind them if they don't "smell" you, but if they turn around or another in the pack faces you then your busted. just something I thought of while playing just now.
"could there be some kind of visual check within a certain distance, say 30m, where a creature facing you would see you and break your maskscent. you could still get right up behind them if they don't "smell" you, but if they turn around or another in the pack faces you then your busted."
How about a visual check of movement? When using maskscent or conceal, have it be more likely to be broken within 30m if you're running? Walking slowly would make you less conspicuous.Maybe even less likely to break if you're low-crawling. Same idea, but let tactics play a small role in it, too. I would think a creature would be more likely to spot you, even if your scent is masked, if you come burstrunning through the pack than if you came walking up slowly. Conceal and low-crawling really should make you invisible to nearly every creature and npc at Master Ranger. And should at least be a big modifier for other players to hit you.
With none of our abilities working on other players or their pets, Rangers are pretty much useless in PvP. I'm tired of people wanting to duel me - I'm left to depend on my Master Marksman and my limited medical skills to hold my own. Meanwhile, every artisan that wants to duel me is a Master Pistoleer. I did beat a TKA in a duel by running my a$$ off - he never got close enough to use his Quai-Chang moves on me. He was pissed that I wouldn't stand still for him. 
Still, anyone with ranged weapon skills above the regular marksman trees can kick an average Novice Ranger's butt - we have no special combat skills to justify spending all our precious skill points in the Ranger trees. I'll probably make Master Ranger, but then I'll have to decide if I want to keep hunting animals, or if I want to get into the GCW and PvP events, in which case I'll have to sell back my Ranger skills and build up either Bounty Hunter or one of the weapon elite skills. I'd really prefer to be a Ranger that's more effective in combat vs humanoids.
LoWangg, I know this might be a stupid question. We get a composite bow? The reason I ask is that I have been playing since August, but I have only been home maybe 4 weeks of that time. The only time I get to play is when everyone else issleeping (I am stationed overseas). I havehad very little help getting as far as I have, so forgive me if I am not up-to-date.
Whoever suggested utility camps, good on ya bro'. That is an outstanding idea.
As far the weapons for us, I am working towards Master Ranger, but Novice in all the ranged weapons, and go up the trees for the good shots. Right now I use Healthshot2, then bleedingshot with an FWG5 (1.9), then keep them at a distance and use Mindshot with a Laser Rifle, finish them with a Laser Carbine. I don't remember the stats on all the weapons, but I had a good weaponsmith make them for me. Sorry this had nothing to do with state of the profession, but I thought it might help somebody, before I forgot.
2 things I think would help out Ranger Class.
-Increase /area scan radius. And fix it.
-More goods being harvested from creatures.
Im a trapper.
Just had a thought, anyone think of adding complexityto all the skill trees? Like for example, say if I can put 6 skill points into the "TRAPPER LINE". It would like, beef up all skill modifiers +20 for the "TRAPPER LINE". Skill trees are just so bland right now.
Once more, excellent job!
Thanks for sticking to this for as long and as diligently as you have.
-- Elysa Kamekazi, Master Ranger & other stuff