Ranger Archive
Thread: My vision of the Ranger
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GraySeven
Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:38 pm
#1
Let me say this first; I really like the Outdoorsman idea.
That being said...for me, the Ranger is more than just a wilderness profession. We are more than just hunters, more than resource harvesters. Sure, the hunting and harvesting are a big portion of what a Ranger is, but there is also the other side.
War is, at its most simple, about controlling territory. The best Air Force in the world can not control territory. A Navy can deny access to land, and control areas of ocean, but people do not livein the oceansnor areproducts (for the most part) created there. So naturally, a strong Army is needed to take and control territory. All well-trained soldiers are equally proficient in the wilderness and in the cities, but in most military forces there are specialists for both urban and wilderness combat.
I've always had a problem with the pre-reqs for Commando's and Bounty Hunters. To me, the pre-req's should be switched. BH's should have ranged and melee skills, and Commando's should require ranged and Scout skills. This would give Commando the feel of what real Commando's are, self-sufficent warriors at home in the wilderness...
Then there is reconnaisance. The Point-man. The lone hunter. In the GCW, there is a need of sorts for just this type of character. The problem, of course, is how to implement such a character in a balanced, fun-to-play manner. That leads to the following suggestions. (My apologies if Camoflauge is repeatedly misspelled)
- Evasion Simply put, the ability to avoid combat. Well, we have that through Camoflauge. Evasion would be the ability to leave combat, the ability to peace out to break combat instantly (via a skill check and a HAM cost). This would be a two-fold skill, usefull for hunting as well as war. Though primarily useful in PvE, it could be useful in PvP if it could be progammically implemented...
- Camoflauge Camo works okay, but is broken way too often on the tougher planets, even as a Master Ranger. Also, Camo currently has no effect on combat...but in real life, Camo has great effect in combat. Breaking up the outline of a person makes that individual harder to hit. Ghillie suits make a person invisible from even a few feet away. Why then can't the Camo skill of Ranger give ranged and/or melee defense bonuses for at least a few rounds of combat? This adds a combat use to a skill otherwise useful only for creature hunting...
- Faction CamoFaction PvP is currently a hit and miss proposition. My group of Overts can go into the territory of the other side and hope to run across other overts or encourge others to go overt to rid their territory of our evil presence. A scout sent in before hand has to be covert to survive and if covert, must find a faction recruiter or ranking NPC to become overt and join in the fun. By allowing a Ranger to Camo his Overt Faction TEF, the Ranger can sneak in, look around and then join in the attack when it takes place. This would naturally have to be detectable much as regular Camo vs creatures, and there still needs to be an "unmasking" before the Ranger could attack to prevent sneaky (insert faction here)'s from abusing it.
These are but a few possiblities I see for the Ranger as a combatant in the GCW, and PvE for that matter. If Ranger is to be more than just a Super Scout, it needs a well-defined place within the GCW while retaining its wilderness flair.
Nemo0
Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:49 pm
#2
For the evasion, I still like the idea of "scaring" enemies away. Think of this being like the krayt call Ben Kenobi used to scare off the Tuskens. A Ranger should know what sorts of cries would scare enemies away. The effect could be something like an AoE /warningshot (probably area, not cone, and reasonably large range). The main problem I see with this is the ability to exploit mission lairs. You use this skill to drive all the creatures off, tap the lair, scare them off again, etc. But warningshot is probably enough to do this already. And I don't think warningshot works on NPCs right now (maybe make this skill do both?).
Derilect
Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:43 pm
#3
I think it makes sense for the commando and BH to keep their pre-req's because the Commando is a master of combat and should have some melee knowledge, and the BH should at least have trapping, hunting.
The idea of Evasion and Camoflauge sound great to me, I was a master ranger at once, but dropped it because I felt worthless in all the GCW battles.
The Faction camo would be cool, but I think that could also be used by smugglers too.
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