Ranger Archive

This could actually be something that alot of Scouts/Rangers would be familiar with.

My alt is just beginning to be a novice creature handler. With todays publish I started out as a level 34 3222 Rifleman/novice CH and 3330 medic.

I went out and tamed a scyk baby. Level 11. For those who arent aware your pets need be leveled up while you also gain CH xp. Training xp for creatures that only shows up while examing your critter in the Datapad and then good old fashioned CH xp.

I took on the rest of the scyk lair that I got the baby from since once tamed they are immediately full level and you can begin training asap. Now, since I'm level 34 I was getting 1 CH xp except for the rare bug that pops up where I get CH xp that matches the training xp.

So, I figure that I should do some stuff near my level. The Myrdrill cavern beetles are all level 34. So, I go in and fight them and my pet just gets nil CH xp anywhere from 25-250. Depends on how much damage the pet did. Since I had to do alot of healing/attacking my pet barely gets me any CH xp.

This got reminded me of the trapping xp bug. Could this be considered something in the same boat? My level is too high to get any kind of CH xp fighting something my level since if I let my pet go solo a level 34 critter it gets whipped in 4 hits. Yet, I cant get xp from fighting creatures near the pets level.

I'm just level 34. Imagine someone level 54 or higher trying to start on the path to CH. I'm thinking the best way to do it would be to begin leveling as a novice with no other combat skills. Otherwise your own pet CL will match your own CL better as you level.

I know some folks will say go gurk! Head to Lok and get into a group. Starsider doesnt like newbs or low levels. Very biased server. Its near impossible to get my level 60 jedi into a group let alone a CL 34.

Any thoughts? The CH forums are too hectic right now since everyone is either PO'd or jumping down the throats of people asking the same question over and over again.

I will assume you were not grouped as a novice CH when fighting the CL 34 stuff. Is that correct?

If you fight something, and the pet hits the mob, it should get xp since it participated. Are you sure your pet was successfully landing a hit? With a level difference of 23, it may not have been hitting them before you killed the target.

At least that is a best guess assuming there is not a bug, which could exist, but it is difficult to sort through the madness right now as you said.

If that is not it, I'm afraid I cannot offer more advice at the moment. I only had a short while to play, and I was focusing on finding low level specials, not fighting things my CL.

Maybe I misread what you wrote. Are you just looking to get CH xp and not worry about your pet's xp?

Unfortunately CH xp is directly related to how much damage the pet does versus how much you do. Soloing is going to be tough for anyone whose combat level is higher than their pet level. It's the same as if you shoot a mob once with a pistol then nine times with a rifle -- you get significantly more rifle xp. It's how the system works now.

Message Edited by Seiryuu on 08-05-2005 11:40 AM

Ranger/creature handler here.
Anyway, like said above, the way things work now is that you spit xp by how much damage you deal with how much damage your creature does. So, to fix the problem you need to group with at least someone, anyone who can pretty much take on your targets by themselves, and then let you creature do all the fighting for you. As long as you don't touch the target yourself, all the xp goes to CH xp. It won't matter whether your grouped member is level 34-80, as long as your target is around the same level. You should get decent xp everytime, as long as your pet lays at least one hit.

Might want to check the TC forum.

CH XP is bugged. I't s not entirely the same as the Trapping issue we had as the bug is random. You can target ten rills, CL4 with a CL10 pet, get the full CH XP on 4 and 1XP on the other 4. That's ungrouped, with you not participating in the combat at all. The pet is still earning Training XP on each kill.

Likewise lairs. Hit a lair, kill it, sometimes you get the 'full' CH XP , sometimes you get 1. Doesn't matter if you stood there and soaked up the aggro, healed your pet or killed anything and everything that came out the lair. Random. "and remember children, random is 'bad'".

Folk on TC are still trying to get to the bottom of it, Drashk is banging out as much info as he's able to collate on the changes and putting them in his big post on the CH forum.

Issue for scout / rangers here though, on the instances where a pet DOES get CH XP you may lose harvest rights. This WAS fixed on TC and the fix may have held on publish to Live but I've experienced it since yesterday on TC (haven't been doing anything/much with Live but pay rents recently).

One other thing I noticed, not a bug as such but worth keeping an eye for on Live. CH attacks a lair, existing spawns from the lair outwith a certain radius don't aggro. Is this holding true for non CH?


Once I get more organised I'll do some work on Live and add to the Issues thread in the In_Live board and on CH. Anything I see that looks like it'll affect scout/rangers in general will go here (and Scout, obv).

Thanks for the imput everyone. As a novice CH I cant teach my pets to group yet so my only option is to go about it ungrouped. I'm just thinking that the CH grind is going to be pretty rough considering that if I want to get CH xp I need to drop my CL to match my pet. Getting into a group to get xp just really isnt an option for me. I never get group invites as a level 34.

So, I guess I will just see how it pans out. Might have to grind out Master Rifles and hope the boost in CL will get me into some groups. Otherwise I will just drop the idea of being a CH.

---

KaiRaene wrote:
Thanks for the imput everyone. As a novice CH I cant teach my pets to group yet so my only option is to go about it ungrouped. I'm just thinking that the CH grind is going to be pretty rough considering that if I want to get CH xp I need to drop my CL to match my pet. Getting into a group to get xp just really isnt an option for me. I never get group invites as a level 34.

So, I guess I will just see how it pans out. Might have to grind out Master Rifles and hope the boost in CL will get me into some groups. Otherwise I will just drop the idea of being a CH.

---

Kai, I'd not go dropping levels of CH just yet

I'm not a CH by profession, but managed, solo to get my toon up to 1001 "quite" quickly while learning three Inate Abilities off wild tames and transferring those to my already well trained BE'd nonCH pets. The CH profession has just taken a huge change of direction and there will be a period of 'settling down' while folk work out what works, whats bust, what's a bug and what's 'working as intended'.

I still found that even dabbling in CH as a Ranger was pretty cool (though all my defence mods and combat skills came from rifleman/BH)

If you're not gettting group invites as a 34, why not form groups? take low to mid level toons out on XP trips. Clobbering ronto and other non-ranged beasties is still pretty good for getting XP and if you're using your pets there, that ought to rack up the XP eh? Let your critters get involved in the kills, and you get to do the harvesting.

I found I could sic my bol on the lair once it stopped popping and, while the PET was in combat I wasn't. Handy for harvesting and tidying up. (Prolly another bug that's still to be addressed but there y'go.)

Kai, why not ask another CH to teach your pets how to group?

I might very well get someone to train up my pets for grouping at some point.

Its not so much that its irritating to get get so little xp. Its just that I hate grouping to level. I can appreciate it for missions, dungeons or what not. But right now on my server if your not a total newb your standing in Lok starport spamming "LFG!" and no one wants to take a slower route. Even level 1's run around there constantly barking for group invites. If you start a group and they realize its low. They just leave. Its mainly because SOE develops a game mechanic that forces us to group. Why would anyone want to group with low players when high level players makes it so much easier on them.

This is why I hated EQ2. Before they introduced the mentoring system I couldnt get xp if I grouped with my guildmates there. Plus since they were higher level they didnt much want to babysit a low level player. Maybe they would have being friends but more often than not it was just me by my lonesome killing those eels outside the gate.

If I started SWG today with no knowledge or funds/equipment or guildmates I wouldnt play this game. Just flat wouldnt. I guess I'm living too much in the past. I'm just not a group player. I hate doing 2-3 hours of gurks groups cause thats the best way to level. I would love to take groups for trips thru the Myrdill caverns but no takers. I have access to the Avatar Platform... no one wants to go.

As a Ranger/CH here's my suggestion. Group with a bunch of people and just run missions. Don't attack with your weapon because you WILL take xp away from your pet. Traps however won't. So...toss a trap pull one away from the pack, have everyone start firing on the beastie so they take the aggro from you and sick your pets on it. I was getting about 800-1k CH xp by doing this method. I found if I shot at the creature too I gained more rifles xp than I did CH xp, due to the fact my rifle was doing more damage than my pets. Let me know if you need any more help.

Uudoo/Kormalla/Eddi