Ranger Archive

Ok currently there is a great avian pop on Naboo on our server so i've been running around trying to get as much as possible. After several days of asking questions about droid or no droid (a DE even told me they werent worth my time, lol way to upsell). I decided to do some of my own testing....

So heres how i set it up. I have a 110 harvest droid. I'm using 31 vegash that i've made on an alt. First i did just a run to see the dif in harvests on 1 male camp of Naboo Kaadu. Heres the results:

Just me a tracking 3 trans harvesting meat: 36

Now just the droid: 40

Just me droid put away w/ the vegash: 42

Droid w/ vegash: 45

So per harvest theres a general idea of how a droid effects u.

Next i decided after reading that droids slow u down too much to do a timed test. So how i set it up was 1 hour each using vegash each time. 1 hour w/ droid. 1 hour w/o droid. I went at it as hard as i could. I only did mission, because i figured if i found a ubba peko peko or such it would skew the results and some times u get lucky and find a nice spaun using track so i did missions only. My methods were as follows:

When just hunting w/o the droid i would move up kill the current pops, and hit the lair 1 time... Then while they would pop i'd collect the harvest. rinse and repeat the 2nd time and 3rd pop. (one note: It did seem like my missions were a lot farther out on all these missions but maybe that was just me. Over the course of an hour i did between 6-8 2 at a time on both. Thats the only figure i didnt keep track of sorry.)

When hunting w/ the droid i'd get to camp summon the droid kneel and wait for the slow trash can to pop. As soon as he popped i'd shoot one when it turned corpse id send it target next rinse repeat till lair dead. This is kinda nice btw because i dont feel like i loose any meat at all since i wait till the droids moving (macro: /tellpet harvest) and shoot the next wait till i see the screen message that he's harvested macro and so on u get the idea.

And the results :

After 1 hour exactly

Just me harvesting : 2658 ducky meat (Meat is currently 225 cpu even w/ current spaun on my server thats 598050 creds)

W/ the droid: 3085 (694125 not a bad hours work)

K heres what i think. It felt like i was moving faster just by myself, but thinking back on it. It was probably just cause i was moving around and not just kneeling waiting on droid to do the move. The missions seemed farther away like i said earlier on the harvest myself but i figure that it averages out over an hour time. Now one thing i will say is i'm ranged and my rifle only shoots so fast. If u were melee i think (w/ spin attacks) U'd get a vastly different result. Granted i one shot these but spin attacking a lair is so damn fast. Thats just my 2 cents.

Please please please critique(sp) this post. Dont like my methods or have questions ask away. Am i hunting wrong? Only thing i ask is dont flame till u go try a test for yourself plz so we can see your results.

Thanks

I have to ask - what weapon are you using. It can and will make a difference.

I use a pistol. I am in the creatures face, or at least not concealed taking slow rifle shots. Without a killer droid it was taking me 9 minutes average to drop a tortur lair. With the droid, 6 minutes. I don't have to send a droid in to harvest, as I am usually within 15 meters of my targets when they drop.

I was out hunting -- shudder-- the dreaded Corellian avian a few weeks ago. I found the motherload - devil gulginaws and carrion spats, multiple spawns in a fairly confined area. Informal testing leads me to believe that I was dropping both way faster with the fighter droid than without. Again, I was pretty much in their face, so harvesting is not a problem.

Money is not the object - time is... at least for me. If I can drop the harvest faster, I get done with themissions - be it finding meat or just a mission - quicker. Then I can go enjoy other stuff.

Side note - you really get that much for meat?? Wow.

JB

Sorry guess i should of listed that i'm not master rifle but using a t21. My droid is all harvest no combat. But the ducks drop in 1 shot usually 2 at the most(unless i miss of course).

Lythender Nirou
Crazy Bothan

I like using a droid because I can still be engaged in combat while he harvests. Otherwise, I have to wait to kill all mobs, then run around harvesting. The only thing I didn't like, is that he is a scared lil chicken. I ended up putting a follow macro on my toolbar because he was running away so much

-=tEh ChEf's fOod & dRinK=-
Oasis, Naboo -1227, -4936

-=Oasis Master Sales=-
Coronet, Corellia: -200 -5500
Mining OP, Dant: -190, 2620

if you have the problem of having your harvesting droid run alot, make sure that he is NOT grouped with you. I have yet to have mine run when he is not grouped.

Ixiss Chardox
Master Pikeman/Master Ranger - Valcyn Galaxy
Novice Creature Handler/Novice Rifleman - Gorath Galaxy
"Sensorship is telling a man he cant eat steak because a baby can't chew it"

If u're harvesting u shouldnt be grouped at all... Doesnt that gimp harvests by 40 percent.

BTW Tracking 4 harvest droid and same vag and i'm up to almost 4k an hour....

Grouping with your droid does not give you the 40% reduction. From my experience my droid runs away just as much when grouped as not grouped. I've been using a harvest droid since just after they came out. My current R3 model only has +76 bonus but he also has a trap dispensor (very cool!). He still harvests more than me and I have +90 (ranger tracking 4) harvest bonus.

Jasco Smlee Antarian Ranger
Nosn Nuub +2 Starfighter Engineer
kNuubian Tech : Rori, Rebel Outpost : /way 3732 -6620

My server also has a good shift on yavin right now, but I've been hunting Choku muts as they drop more per creature.

Over the course of one 3 hour buff session, no droid, constant 32 Veghash = 14,474 units

Next day with brand new droid (105 rating) and Veghash = 10,200 units.

Droids suck. I did pick up more with the droid but went much, much slower having to summon it again and again...The fact that they have to move to the corpse, that they don't always recognize the command the first time you give it, that you can't click on a series of corpses like you could if you make a /harvest meat hot key. Only nice thing about them (I wasn't grouped with mine) is that they can harvest while you're actually fighting. I'm master TKA/Scout 4040, and while I tap away at the lair slowly to let all the beasties out, I can target dead creatures and the droid can harvest them. Still, not a big help. It would probably be less of a hassle to 2 box a second xx4x scout toon if possible, grouped to get the same amount.

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Vaanbuzzkrkk - Wookie

Shadowfire

Future Rifleman/Ranger

If your having problems with the droid running away (I've been hunting Rancors the past few days, 900+ OQ and PE on the meat), then I figured out a way around it. Leave your vehicle out, around 50m away from the mission. Order your droid to follow the vehicle. It will stay at the vehicle. When you are done with the enemies, make the droid harvest the beasties. When its done, it will automatically go back to the vehicle. It may take a bit longer than if you had the droid there and could have him harvest every creature as you kill it, but its a lot faster than having to call him back from 120m when the runs away. I've made 100k of rancor meat solo in about 5 buff sessions.

Bria - Electro (N) ~ Shadowfire - Hydrolus (R) ~ Sunrunner - Zaxu Trizki (I) ~ Ahazi - Xonoryt (R) ~ Gorath - Geitizo Nimoirist (I) ~ Radiant - Tygran Virfais (N)