Ranger Archive

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=pistoleer&message.id=27067

^^interesting new technique to pull out single social creatures if you have some marksman skills...I'm up in the air, as you can see in the thread over whether this is a valid tactic or exploiting the system but as is...its there for now.

Also a pistoleer and I read the thread.

If it's a bug, oh well, they will fix it and until then I am gonna be doing it.

If it's not a bug, then I feel any tactic is a valid tactic. I am not changing the programming or anything, merely working within the rules the gods (aka Devs) have set for this world. I will be trying this out tonite on my favorite (for the moment) prey, hambabas, and will let y'all know the results.

A word to the wise - Fanshot - do not use it in the general direction of any other target, it seems to still be using a cone of effect and hitting eligible targets. Good for xp in a group of people who are engaging different targets, as you get something out of several targets...bad for only making onebeastie mad at ya.

JB

This has been a "tactic" for a while now, so who knows if the Devs call it an exploit or not, but it has not been changed in months, so we can all draw our own conclusions. However, every time I try it, I get get BAFed anyway, so I rarely use it.

I am sorry, I meant to say that similar things have been tried (without bleeds seemed to be the most common way). I need to take a break from these boards for a while, I am getting sloppy.

This is a valid tactic. Just because we find a tactic that seems to make the game a bit easier doesn't mean it is a bug or an exploit. I believe the devs intended this to be a valid tactic, but we had to be the ones to figure it out. Just like there can be one and only one way to become a Jedi, maybe there is one and only one way to pull a critter from its herd. This is it. And it is still a challenge and not full proof. Plus, there are several things about this tactic that are different for a carbineer and a rifleman.

1. Go prone. (You must be more than 65 meters away from your target's friends in the nest.)
   
2. Apply your bleeds on the target. Since prone gives you the advantage of not being seen for a few seconds your target will not react. (Not true with bleeding. Since your target won't take damage from your bleeds for about 15 seconds, it won't notice you until you fire a damaging shot. I've never been detected standing, kneeling or prone. Also, carbineers should only use action shot 1, because action shot 2 causes area damage to your target's buddies. They will definitely come after you then.)
   
3. Hit peace right after your bleeds. (Yep...only need to hit it once because your target will not enter combat until it takes damage from the bleed. About 15 seconds.)
   
4. Stand up. (A good idea if you are prone or kneeling.)
   
5. Move out of the targets range. (Not necessary, but does give you some space away from the nest. I fire my action shot at long range and just stand there.)
   
6. Wait until the first bleed kicks in. Your target will immediately make a b-line for you, but none of his buddies will follow! (Unless the pack is tight, like within a couple meters of one another. Just be patient and wait for the members of the nest to spread out a bit.)
   
7. Even better yet, the second you sick your pets on him, he'll forget you and attack them.
   (Actually, you can do several things at this point. When the creature charges, your auto-attack screen will pop up and you will begin firing unless you hit peace. As soon as the bleed hits and the creature charges, have your pet or droid attack.
   
   As a ranger, throw your wire mesh and/or phecn darts. You'll stop the creature in its tracks and can take it down without a lot of mess.)

A note on grouping and this tactic: Make sure one person is designated to use this tactic to "pull" the creature. Have your hunting partners look for a signal on when they can safely attack. My friends look for my first trap. Simple enough.

A note on spawning: After wiping out the first wave of creatures from a nest, hit the nest and let ALL of the second wave of creatures spawn. You don't want to be in the middle of taking down big game and have one of his buddies spawn and insta-aggro you. It's better to "pull" them from the pack one by one after they all respawn.

Just a note on the significance of this system. I only hunt with one other person and mostly we hunt on Tatooine. We have tested this tactic and have it down to a science on dewbacks, swarming dewbacks, mountain dewbacks, grizzled dewbacks, squills, mountain squills, blah, blah, blah...Haven't tested it on NPCs, but then again,we only hunt big game.