Ranger Archive
Thread: Time to lay it on the table...who has dropped what in the Ranger prof?
Master Pistoleer, (nearly) Master Ranger
Master Shipwright, Master Marchant, Master Artisan
Post CU :
Master Pistoleer, Ranger 0040, BH 0440 - for the extra defenses, ranged speed, accuracy and specials
Master Shipwright, Master Artisan, Novice Fencer - but to be cancelled.
Basically I'm down to playing once or twice a week now when there is a guild event organised, as I find the game so dull and tedious now. If I wanted to play WoW I would (actually I am :-p)
I'll be cancelling my crafting alt. as the only reason I kept him going was for making the new ships for the expansion - guess I should have foreseen that as being a stupid move.
Pre Combat Revamp (...):
Master Ranger, Master Rifleman, 1/0/0/0 Medic
Post Combat Revamp (...): I'm still experimenting, so any "final" template is subject to change until my respec period is over. (In all templates I've at least kept level 1 hunting in scout, so that I get that bit more harvest if/when I go creature hunting).
-
Master Ranger, Master Rifleman : Too slow, defences too low, felt unable to be self reliant. -
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Carbineer, Scout 4142, Pistol 0003, Marksman 1444 : Nice but too much of a mish-mash, wasn't particularly strong in any particular area. -
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Rifleman, Carbineer 0400, Scout 4140, Marksman 4144 : This showed me rifleman was really too slow and broke to rely on. Cover up and improved conceal shot consistently gave three shots and then cover always broke. -
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Carbineeer, Rifleman 0400, Scout 4140, Marksman 4144: I learned that the Carbineer "crowd control" specials weren't as effective as they'd been expected to be. -
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Marksman, Scout 4010, Rifleman 1400, Carbineer 0440, Pistol 0004: This was okay, fairly good skills, but again rifleman wasn't standing up to scrutiny. This was finally dropped when I worked out more templates that gave higher skill mods (general ranged accuracy and speed, melee and rangeddefences). -
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Pistolieer, Scout 4114, Squad leader 0404: This was a pure stacking teplate and gave the highest defences I've found so far. -
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Pistolieer, Carbineer 0440, Scout 4010, Marksman 1444: This is quite a powerful template and my current "state of the art". Weilding a carbine gives higher speed and accuracy than weilding a pistol, but you have all the pistol specials to use from a 50m range rather than just 35m. Weilding a pistol instead increases your defences and lowers your accuracy/speed. This template is also multi-purpose I can tank and I can crowd control.
It took me a few days to bring myself to let ranger go, because I said I wouldn't. However, the consequences of the combat revamp have made ranger far less self-reliant, which for me, is what ranger was all about (not being "uber", being reasonably self-reliant). I say this because unless you're going to rely on stealth (which you can't because rifleman isn't working properly), you are going to end up going toe to toe with at least one creature. For the skill points we spend, we get no denfences, and traps don't yet help enough.
Another "negative incentive" for ranger in my case is that, virtually all of the crafters who I gathered for have been driven out of the game by the cobmat revamp (...). So, I've been feeling rather redundant.
As for having replaced Ranger with Bounty Hunter, well the jury is out on this one for me. I like the specials, I chose it because it was a still a hunting profession. However, the reality and nitty gritty of PvP hunting isn't exactly hitting the spot for me at the moment.
So, to conclude, as a ranger, I've felt like I've nothing left to do, and I'm not really in the Bounty Hunter groove either.
Pre CU:
Master Ranger Master swordsman (Master Scout Brawler x4xx, Nov Medic)
Post CU
Master Smuggler, Master BH, Novice Pistols (Scout 4040, Brawler 4xxx, Marksman x4x4)
Not the greatest of templates "uberpvperomgroflcopterlolpwnzer"wise but I'm having a lot of fun with it - almost as much fun as I had with Ranger pre CU.
I put the smuggler before the BH, because Smuggler is great fun, plus I had to change to a prof that is still waiting for a revamp, otherwise it just wouldn't have been the same
DaveG wrote:
Pre Combat Revamp (...):
Master Ranger, Master Rifleman, 1/0/0/0 Medic
Post Combat Revamp (...): I'm still experimenting, so any "final" template is subject to change until my respec period is over. (In all templates I've at least kept level 1 hunting in scout, so that I get that bit more harvest if/when I go creature hunting).
Master Ranger, Master Rifleman : Too slow, defences too low, felt unable to be self reliant.
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Carbineer, Scout 4142, Pistol 0003, Marksman 1444 : Nice but too much of a mish-mash, wasn't particularly strong in any particular area.
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Rifleman, Carbineer 0400, Scout 4140, Marksman 4144 : This showed me rifleman was really too slow and broke to rely on. Cover up and improved conceal shot consistently gave three shots and then cover always broke.
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Carbineeer, Rifleman 0400, Scout 4140, Marksman 4144: I learned that the Carbineer "crowd control" specials weren't as effective as they'd been expected to be.
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Marksman, Scout 4010, Rifleman 1400, Carbineer 0440, Pistol 0004: This was okay, fairly good skills, but again rifleman wasn't standing up to scrutiny. This was finally dropped when I worked out more templates that gave higher skill mods (general ranged accuracy and speed, melee and rangeddefences).
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Pistolieer, Scout 4114, Squad leader 0404: This was a pure stacking teplate and gave the highest defences I've found so far.
Master Bounty Hunter, Master Pistolieer, Carbineer 0440, Scout 4010, Marksman 1444: This is quite a powerful template and my current "state of the art". Weilding a carbine gives higher speed and accuracy than weilding a pistol, but you have all the pistol specials to use from a 50m range rather than just 35m. Weilding a pistol instead increases your defences and lowers your accuracy/speed. This template is also multi-purpose I can tank and I can crowd control.
It took me a few days to bring myself to let ranger go, because I said I wouldn't. However, the consequences of the combat revamp have made ranger far less self-reliant, which for me, is what ranger was all about (not being "uber", being reasonably self-reliant). I say this because unless you're going to rely on stealth (which you can't because rifleman isn't working properly), you are going to end up going toe to toe with at least one creature. For the skill points we spend, we get no denfences, and traps don't yet help enough.
Another "negative incentive" for ranger in my case is that, virtually all of the crafters who I gathered for have been driven out of the game by the cobmat revamp (...). So, I've been feeling rather redundant.
As for having replaced Ranger with Bounty Hunter, well the jury is out on this one for me. I like the specials, I chose it because it was a still a hunting profession. However, the reality and nitty gritty of PvP hunting isn't exactly hitting the spot for me at the moment.
So, to conclude, as a ranger, I've felt like I've nothing left to do, and I'm not really in the Bounty Hunter groove either.
Dave,
In the interest of learning, I'm curious to know why the Master BH was such a founding element to your template? I have almost the same template as you, except I have M. Pistols and Carbs with the rest in scout 4/0/4/0 and a smattering of BH. Have you found M. BH to be more worthwhile than M. Carbs? If so, why?
My thinking was along the same lines - carb weapons and range go very well with the pistol specials. And if I'm going to be using the Carbs, I should master the prof since you get the biggest bang for you SP spent. The extra SP in BH was an added bonus.
Pre-CU: rifleman, creature handler, 0-0-4-0 ranger
Post-CU: master smuggler, 4-2-0-0 CM, 0-4-2-0 commando 2-0-2-0 scout.
I've found that even with hunting 2 my harvests are silly-huge, and if they ever fix the harvesting droid they'll be even bigger. The only things I miss about ranger are the camps to be honest. Tracking is no longer useful to me because hunting is now so tied to grouping and the mission terminals anyway that there is no need to use tracking. Also tracking now is woefully insuffecient because the info it gives you is useless. You no longer care about whether there is a rancor 100m south of you, what you care about is what *level* that rancor is.
I've quite frankly been real amazed that there hasn't been more gnashing of teeth from rangers about the CU. The biggest blow to you isn't that you necessarily got nerfed, it's that there just isn't a need for you anymore at all on a more fundamental level. But from this thread now I understand why. It's because most of you have already given up on ranger and no longer care, lol.
Message Edited by GoldMemberBria on 05-17-2005 11:05 AM
no rangers for me anymore.
I've still got all the ranger skills between my ears... but the profession isn't worth it to me right now.
if I can't get significant data from /examine... the rest falls apart.
I'm taking a break for now... and working on the bugs that plague us all. let's hope the 'angry bag' CL system of mobs is an artifact of poor coding, and not the design theory of the now and forever.
Message Edited by NerfBurger on 05-17-2005 01:34 PM
Pre CU Master Ranger/Master Rifle with some medic
Post CU Master Bounty Hunter/Master Rifle/Novice artisan/Scout 4040, or something like that still tweaking
I'd been trying to figure out a way to try something new and decided with the respec it was a good time to do so. The only part of ranger I really miss is tracking, but with wild spawn borked every time I try to hunt like I did before CU its not that important. I really hate the terminal hunting we are now forced into. Don't intend to hunt Jedi but like BH for low cost and its specials, I can now slow down or even knock down critters and keep them from getting to me. Also with the artisan I now can place things for sale and not worry about having to find a buyer or limit myself as I did with the bazaar. If the ranger revamp comes around and looks good I'll take the ranger hat off the hook and climb back up that tree as fast as possible, but until then stop by my shop and browse for a few minutes that cheap copper battery may be the thing you can't go home without!
Cryos_Merovingian wrote:
Dave,
In the interest of learning, I'm curious to know why the Master BH was such a founding element to your template? I have almost the same template as you, except I have M. Pistols and Carbs with the rest in scout 4/0/4/0 and a smattering of BH. Have you found M. BH to be more worthwhile than M. Carbs? If so, why?
My thinking was along the same lines - carb weapons and range go very well with the pistol specials. And if I'm going to be using the Carbs, I should master the prof since you get the biggest bang for you SP spent. The extra SP in BH was an added bonus.
Edit: I got a bit side-tracked replying to you, so I'll slip in the bit about master carbs vs master bh here.
As you'll have seen, I tried MBH+MCarb. I had been expecting Master Carbs to be the ultimate crowd control profession, so I was keen to try it out. However, when I respec'd to Master Carbs, I really did find a lot of the specials to be pretty ineffective. The best crowd control specials for Master Carbs would be "Advanced Supression Fire", but as of yet, supression fire doesn't really work. I quick browse of the carbineer board showed me that I wasn't the only one who found this.
Looking at MasterBH, I found this to be all round more interesting. Firstly, you get some very nice weapon certs. Then in general, BH has a nicer range of specials (you've got area attacks, bleed attacks, knock down, and state-inflictors). The last but not least, MBH is better for skill stacking, for both general ranged skills and defences. Grab a profession calculator, and compare Master Pistols with MBH and then Master Pistols with Master Carbs. There is a marked difference. This is mainly due to the fact that Pistols and Carbs are meant for crowd control, but BH is classed as tanking.
Lastly, if you have Investigation IV, you get "Improved Duelist Stance" which is a great defensive measure.
Well, I had started thinking about BH when I realised the new pre-requisits would allow mastering of both Ranger and BH. Upon further thought, this template was not so good because it was only a one way street; BH skills would strengthen Ranger skills, but not withstanding tracking IV Ranger skills would not strengthen BH skills.
Although, once I'd started thinking about BH at all, the idea stuck. Mainlybecause unlike pure combat professions, BH is a profession with a purpose. Being a Ranger gave me a sense of purpose, pre combat-revamp (...) at least, and I knew that whatever I did, I needed a "reason to be". If I was a double combat elite, then I knew I'd just be drifting around looking for aimless action all the time.
Call it a roleplay decision if you like, but it was more than that. I neededa reason to play the game. Given the way creature harvesting has turned out (likea previous poster said, we're as good as tied to mission terminals now), there's even less reason or advantage to being a ranger, when you could have a completely different template and just "pretend" to be a ranger (i.e. still be a ranger in spirit; remember it's a lifestyle!).
Well, that was the thinking anyway. I haven't completely ruled out ranger yet. I'm currently considering the feasibility of Master Ranger and Master Pistols. Out of all the ranged professions, I really like the pistols specials now. Ideally I'd like to remain as a sniper, like I was before, but I found rifleman to be too frustrating in it's current form.
I'm also still not completely convinced with bounty hunter. The general process of "terminal browsing, informant contact, droid search, travel to destination, send out more droids", to be a little tedious. My toon is a wookiee, and I choose that speciesbecause that's the culture/species I most identifed with, so hunting out another player to purposefully ruin their day doesn't quite sit right with me. Then also because of beeing a Wookiee, I won't kill rebel Jedi's on principal. So unlessI ask them beforeI start travelling to them(thus alerting them), I don't know what I'm going to find until I arrive. So far this has caused me a lot of wasted journies. So at the moment, with no offence to other successful bounty hunters, I'm wondering if morals and bounty hunting are two things that just won't ever mix. I keep trying to convince myself that I've spent all this time as a ranger, and now hunting players is the "next level".
The one thing that I am consistently getting a kick out of is stomping around in my "Hunting Armour", proudlysporting my horns and brandishing a Proton Carbine (which I had to buy as I'm not getting RotW yet). It's making me feel like quite the Tough-Wook! (although the imperial Jedi Knight who had a 226K bounty, whom Iwent up against solo the other day would tell a different story ).
P.S.
Trying to think ofa way to rewrite my bio to explain the shift from Ranger to BH because I wanted to hunt but somehow a virus (or parasite?)called "Smeds" (aka "Flit Flu")rendered my hunting business redundant .
Message Edited by DaveG on 05-18-2005 05:26 AM
lammergeier wrote:
apologies...
no rangers for me anymore.
I've still got all the ranger skills between my ears... but the profession isn't worth it to me right now.
if I can't get significant data from /examine... the rest falls apart.
I'm taking a break for now... and working on the bugs that plague us all. let's hope the 'angry bag' CL system of mobs is an artifact of poor coding, and not the design theory of the now and forever.
ditto's
Plus a whole lotta other stuff that most people have already touched on. Once the Ranger revamp comes to be I will take another look at it.
I miss Ranger. I'm mad that I miss ranger. I'm even madder at SOE for making mad at missing Ranger!