Ranger Archive
Thread: /maskscent and /conceal
There have been a lot of complaints about the new /maskscent and /conceal being worthless. I was wondering if those of you who were picked up by a kreetle (or something of a similar value) were applying /maskscent or /conceal and then running like a Kenyan sprinter in the Olympics past agro critters?
Just a reminder that the devs were going to seriously reduced breaking if you walk or go prone past agro critters. I've tested it a bit and it looks like the did what they said they would do. Although it doesn't work 100 percent of the time, walking through a nest of desert squills (which I found using /areatrack thank you very much) five times with only one detecting me and the fact that I racked up some XP is telling me that my /maskscent is doing what it should.
Sure, I got ticked the first time that a kreetle broke my /maskscent. I even asked myself, "**edit**?" the second time it happened. Then all of the sudden I remembered that the skill works better if you walk or go prone. Point is, you need to slow down to get the best use of these skills. When I'm running around in the wilderness and I see a red dots or arrows show up on my compass, I stop and start walking. Works for me.
I agree! Not sure why other people are having difficulties with /maskscent and /conceal. Both seem to work great for me. I have only tried it on Dathomir and I am a master ranger so maybe people that are having trouble are lower level and master makes a big difference.
/maskscent definitely breaks a lot more now (i.e. more then NEVER breaking like it was before, I think people are just spoiled) With just /maskscent on I was able to hide from almost all the Giant Baz Nitchs and rancors as long as I didn’t get too close. If I ran right through the center of their lair (like I could before the patch) then I would usually get attacked. But again, think about it people!!! You are masking your SCENT not becoming invisible. So yes even the lowliest mob should be able to see you if you get close. Even if it is a nort. /maskscent is only supposed to hide you from one of creatures’ senses not vision and hearing as well so you should still have to stay 20m or more away from things if you want them to not notice you. I don’t know if this is how it is working but I do know that I was able to get around past forty or so giant baz nitches without being detected if I made some effort to avoid them and stay outside 20-30m or so. (And I was getting a TON of XP from it)
/conceal worked waaaay better for me then /maskscent. It did not have it break even once for the duration of the kit. I ran past every creature/NPC I could find and nothing spotted me. I was face-to-face inches from a nightsister slaver that was aggressive to me and neither he nor his two buddies noticed me. I was running in circles around them and through them for five minutes straight. Not sure why it is breaking for other people. Maybe the Dath kit just works better or maybe master rangers bonus to conceal actually does something. I hope so because I’m not sure even master rangers should be able to conceal this well and I definitely don’t think anyone other then masters should be able to conceal anywhere near this well. (I got 9k XP in around 10 minutes with conceal on)
I haven’t tried applying my Dath kits to anyone else yet but if the work as well on others as they do on me then that will be very powerful. Not sure how the scouting XP will work for not being detected if someone else conceals you. If the person wearing the kit gets XP then this will be the easiest way to get master scout/ranger. Just have a ranger apply the Dath kit to you and you should be able to get 40k scouting or more per kit. Seems a bit overpowered to me. I really think they need to lower or drop the XP gain from /maskscent and /conceal.
Based on how powerful the kits that I made and used were I do not think that the resource requirements are too high at all. Yes I do think that rangers should be able to find wood and berries in the wild and no I do not think we should be able to mine metal and oil for our camps. But that is another issue. 90 or so total resources is not very much for 25 minutes of invisibility to all creatures and npcs that can be applied to anyone.
Hunting everyone!
Quite. I've not tried concealing yet, since I'm going up the tracking tree first, but masking my scent has been working fine for me. I get discovered a little more often then before the patch, but I also tend to run by stuff, so it's my own fault.
As for concealing though, I notice that it also hides you from NPC's.... could be a good thing to have a Naboo kit with you when a few mauler lords show up 
Mak.
That method worked for me too. Only got broken once.
ILiado Master Scout/Novice Ranger, Tyrena, Valcyn
I think we're having problems with mask being broken by LOW level stuff.... at nearly master..
I'm 4/2/4/4. I was on Naboo and was detected by rabid shaupats.... I haven't had one of those aggro on me since I made Novice Ranger, but now they break my maskscent. There's something goofy with maskscent failing on the easiest creatures for near master or masters, but being perfect (as it should) against high level creatures for Masters AND Novices.
IMHO - don't touch /maskscent and /conceal for the high end or master levels. This seems to be working fine. The lower levels may need some tweaks though.
Camouflage (IMHO) is a tool to be used with other cautions and stealth skills. Camo is not a potion of invisibility - hehe.
Just a couple of points to piggy back on what's been said here. I totally agree with the notion that /maskscent is not invisibility. If you go running and stomping past a kreetle, he's gonna hear yah or feel the vibration...not smell yah...and he's gonna break you once in a while. Changing the timer on applying /maskscent from what, 60 seconds? to 15 seconds is also a plus.
/conceal should give a sense of invisibility due to blending in with the surroundings and the like. It's a good notion and needs to be tweaked. One thing I've always hated about other RPGs (take EQ and UO for example), where you simply "hide" and "poof" you're no longer there. Even In the middle of a barron field!
I can put up with the cost of camo kits (wouldn't complain if the necessary resources went down), especially since they help keep an entire nest of dewbacks from jumping on me while I'm harassing one of their buddies.