Ranger Archive
Thread: Advice on Master Ranger questions
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Chwbacca
Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:47 am
#1
Howdy -
I've been mostly silent in here, but been a M Ranger for quite some time now. However, I've come upon some questions that I've not found answers to on a search or reading some of Ur posts. Any advice here would be great.
One: Do the level of Organics effect the reliability of Camo kits?
I've seen this discussed a bit and there's 2 sides 2 the fence...Use Mask scent, and save the resources, or go with Camo's. My thought here is that I can go outside of ANY city and get what I need to make SOME camos...craft those and go out to get more resources and factory them. Some say Camo's break too much, but they r (in my exp) more reliable and last longer than Mask Scent. (Again, just going off my exp...this 'aint by any streatch a Truth...lol) But I've never seen this answered...I probably missed it, knowing me...but if the quality of the Organics matters...how can I figure out what stats r important?
Two: Where can I get reliable "market" pricing, 4 my server, from Master Rangers?
PLEASE excuse my ignorance on this one, but up until now, I've been getting G-mails from customers and selling to the highest. A cheap way 2 do business, I suppose, but I give breaks to those that keep me posted on what they need. I think it balances out. Also, I tend to hunt late at night when my server is empty. So my contact w/ other players is kinda limited.
HOWEVER, this situationis brand new 2 me, as I was out on LOK hunting and happpened upon a player that wanted a source for a harvest. I made a kill, and found that the harvest was well above what both of us expected.
I have enough contacts that I can generally get a good idea of what's hot, but this guy wanted product and pricing right away, and I'd not received any contracts on this new stuff. Of course I let him know that I was working on another contract, and would get back 2 him as soon as digitally possible.
My first thought was the "Gaiaxy Trade" forums/Wanderhome. But, there has 2 be a better way. I've spent several hours of game time building up a small group of "Trainiees" (Scout/Ranger) that hunt 4 me while they grind. In good faith, I let them know my contacts when/if they reach the "Master Ranger" mountain top. Kinda "a job well done, my Padawan" thing...lol
However this is really the first time I got caught w/ my traps down. I think I need to take that next step to "Glowy Ranger" cause that's more important to me than "Glowy Padawan." So bottom line, I guess, here is...where do Y'all find market? Is it just what am I offered? I've seen the math principles layed out in the Scout Forum, and some here, but let's face it, demand is supply in the situation.
So when Y'all stumble across a good/great new harvest...where do U start on pricing?
Three: I've found a nice, comfortable home with Master Ranger, (almost) Master Rifleman. Am I wrong here?
I see a huge advantage in rifle to TKA or pistol in that I can hang back, camo, and pick off the tougher creatures...without agro. Armor...nope, buffs, maybe mind...I'm a Wookiee...lol. Again, I solo most of the time. I still bring in bigger harvests than my hunters and most of them r training Ranger/sub TKA. I see the advantage to being able to agro one creature and drawing them all to U, kicking the donkey, then harvesting...on the other hand, U gotta buff, U gotta spend whatever on a huge set of armor...again I'm a Wookie...I'm under the impression that we STILL don't have any ubers. (but I don't use it anyway, so I have no POR here) and I feel (perhaps I'm wrong) that the tougher/higher yield harvests r gonna kick my hair butt to that magical world of incap...or worse...LOST TIME.
I find that my character is always floating around the 1-3 Mil Credit mark. Not enough to retire on in my galaxy...lol. This is what gives me pause, I have a good source of new recruits, some newer Master Rangers that would dive on the trap 4 me, and I'mdeveloping a large list of good sales contacts. But I just can't seem 2 make that next step to...
Sorry if I got long in the tooth here, again I'm a Wookiee. Please feel free to rip me a new one, or point me in the right direction...until then...and after...all my best...from a long term, solo, Master (obviously rookie) Ranger.
- Cwy
JDLiquidFire
Sun Jan 16, 2005 3:08 am
#2
Welcome Chwbacca
this is my 2 cents, everyone has a different philosophy and take on what to do. I'm fairly new to the profession, but joined a guild of rangers on shadowfire and they have taught me a lot.
1. Maskscent v. Camo If you want to take the time to craft a camo kit, I think generally it isworth it, however is that time worth it. Maskscent works almost as well and you don't have to take any time to use/craft it. Just call it and it will last you a good little while. Camo will hold longer but there are some things that will break it just as easily as maskscent Kreetles being one of the worst offendors, believe the krayt dragon will also break it inside of 65m. Is the time it takes to create a camo kit worth it to you? For me it is not, however I do a lot of big game hunting and do not harvest much unless I am getting at least 50cpu or a friend needs quantity of whatever.
2. Crafters are your friend, get to know them ask them what they need, what they are willing to pay. The resources that come to mind for doc's are avian and herbivor meats. When avian has oq900+ and good pe and good dr it is worth A LOT. On Shadowfire that means upwards of 200cpu. I usually find out about an uber harvest of that as I travel through cnet a doc will be spamming looking for any amount. swgcraft is a good place to keep track of shifts if someone keeps it up for your server. I try to maintain a list of friends who need stuff and find out what those major needs are important stats (again swgcraft has an excellent list of what resources are used for) and hopefully these people have a good feel for market values and are willing to share their knowledge with you. I have used my guild to sell many of my wares however as guild falls apart I find myself having to take advantage of my contacts more and more. It is also preferable to sell in large stacks. If you are buying from scouts I will assume you are already aware of this. I have seen people posting in trade forums asking for price checks on resources and people seem to reply fairly honestly, this may also be a good way to determine the value of certain resources. I was able to get a wookiee armor resource list from a wook armor specialist and have been trying to keep my eyes open for those resources as I need armor for krayt hunting, one hit wonders they are. Dunno if that helps, or is more of what you are already doing. My 2 cents
3. I too am ranger/rifles and some squad leader. Some people like up close. I think the concealment factor becomes worthless at that point however, some people might argue that ranger is worthless.
To each his own
JBMat
Sun Jan 16, 2005 4:40 am
#3
I wish I could tell which was better, camo or maskscent. Mask is free, camo uses (mostly) free resources. I generally use mask and go from there. My experience is that both will break, regardless of experience. I had kits that popped out 17 uses that were no better at staying up than kits with only 11 uses, so who knows? (17 uses was all high level stuff - the 11 use kits were so so resources).
Pricing. Ahhhhh. Lok avian with 999OQ and all stats over 750 was - I say again - was- priced at 250cpu on my server. Anyone with scout was on Lok. The obvious glut drove several docs to near bankruptcy (Golly, I am down to my last 10 milion) and the price is now hovering between 50 and 100 cpu. Supply far outstripped demand there. Usually I will undercut others, in that I charge only to the lower 1000... if I have 1300 you pay for 1000. The buyers set the price, however the sellers don't have to work for what they are offering. I never try and set prices. I know about what the stuff is worth, but let the buyer make the first offer. If it is ridiculously low, I laff and move on - insult me you go hunt your own stuff. Worst case, the guild doc gets it all and I get free stims and the odd buff.
Weapons. Whatever floats your boat. Remember, the CURB is coming. Weapons may change. TC already has line of sight active - no more shooting through hills. Knowing absolutely nothing about pending changes - and heeding the NDA anyhow - it will be a shock to some people to wake up the morning of the CURB and find out their "weapon of choice" is no longer suited to "stand and spam". Your method is your method, and while impugning only stand and spammers, if it works, go for it. As for credits, 1-3 mil is a nice cushion. You can build it up really fast with one good spawn or spend it all on one good spaceship. Again, what do you feel comfortable with?
have fun
JB
Nemo0
Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:20 am
#4
Camo uses Overall Quality to determine the number of charges per kit (and it can be experimented up). The actual effectiveness does not matter on the quality of the resources (as far as I can tell). I personally prefer camo to maskscent (I find it more effective but that could be the 140 camo mod vs. the 125 maskscent mod for a bothan with BE clothing) but I find them a bit annoying to put together and such. A combination of the two is often a good idea--I'll usually just use maskscent until I collect enough resources to put the camo together (although I sometimes never bother to collect enough resources to make the switch).
As for pricing, you galaxy trade forum is probably the best place to go. While you can tell quite a bit about a resource without it (like who it would be good for), prices will fluctuate based on a large number of factors. By visiting the trade forum every so often, you can get a feeling for what people will offer for a resource (i.e. 10cpu for grind, 50cpu for nice, and 100+cpu for uber or something similar) but the exact price will vary depending on the exact stats and when it shifted in (a 900 in all stats avian meat will almost always sell for 100+cpu but it will be worth a lot less if a 950 stat avian just shifted out or is on another planet and a lot more if the best avian spawn in the past 3 months was 100 in all stats).
As for weapons, JB has it right. One of the best parts about Ranger is that you can choose whatever profession you want to go with it. Pick something you enjoy and don't worry if it is the "right" profession for the job. You might even want to try a bit of dabbling (although this can be a bad idea with combat professions).
Almagill
Sun Jan 16, 2005 9:43 pm
#5
Camo/mask. I use maskscent if am just popping out onto a planet for a quick bit of work, if I have the resources or they are immediately available I'll knock off a few camo kits and use those for preference. I got the impression when I was working up to master that camo worked better for me than mask, but, pffft, to be honest it's hard to say. It's got to be more a RP thing for me, or a useful tool if am with a group and I don't want to get drawn into combat looking after them (course, then you've got to have folk in the group who don't think they've just becme invisible AND invulnerable and start pot shotting all and sundry... OK, thats another rant for another day)
Pricing. A reliable source for pricing? If you find one, let us know
I work for whatever I need. If am broke, am cheap, if am flush you'll have the Devil's own job to get me out there hunting something scabby just cos your doc needs it... OTOH, if I like you I'll dump a pile of meat/hide/bone on your doorstep just cos I was passing.
Weapons. Go with what you enjoy. There'll be plenty of people who will tell you you're wrong (translates as 'you're using a different weap from me) but this is a game, not work. If you're going to enjoy it, do what you enjoy. The CURB was mentioned earlier, and yep, who knows for sure what that's going to do the not-strictly-combat professions like Ranger?
Oh, and LoS? It's got it's pro's and con's, but if you regularly hunt on a crinkly planet, not being able to shoot though the ground is going to make a huge difference to things!
Pricing. A reliable source for pricing? If you find one, let us know
I work for whatever I need. If am broke, am cheap, if am flush you'll have the Devil's own job to get me out there hunting something scabby just cos your doc needs it... OTOH, if I like you I'll dump a pile of meat/hide/bone on your doorstep just cos I was passing.Weapons. Go with what you enjoy. There'll be plenty of people who will tell you you're wrong (translates as 'you're using a different weap from me) but this is a game, not work. If you're going to enjoy it, do what you enjoy. The CURB was mentioned earlier, and yep, who knows for sure what that's going to do the not-strictly-combat professions like Ranger?
Oh, and LoS? It's got it's pro's and con's, but if you regularly hunt on a crinkly planet, not being able to shoot though the ground is going to make a huge difference to things!
DesktopSaki
Mon Jan 17, 2005 2:07 am
#6
I've made camo kits with cheap materials and I swear, they were less effective. I hit on a monster 19-use, high-quality-everything schem a while ago, and I can drive to the Village and back without it breaking. If I whip one up on the go with whatever's handy, I can count on it breaking several times. It might just be my luck, though.
But the one thing it definitely affects is uses. With experimentation, you'll easily get 17 uses, but with some Amazing Successes, 19 isn't out of the question. I don't know what the theoretical top is.
I concur on the trade forum thing. In the end, it's not the Rangers that set the prices, it's the doctors, BEs, chefsand armorsmiths. Check the other profession forums as well--I know in the Chef one there's links to a great spreadsheet that tells you just how important each stat is to each given food and drink. That's VERY helpful when determining what to hunt. Nothing like spending three days hunting that "great" 950 OQ meat only to find out it's nearly useless because all the other stats are under 250.
Chwbacca
Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:40 am
#7
Hey all -
I had a small PC problem, but I checked the replys today. Thanks so much for the input. I think Using Ur input, I can tweek a bit on #2...but it looks like I was on the right path there anyway. Tx again!
- Cwy
CNevyn
Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:54 am
#8
Higher quality resources do make a difference, in my opinion. I regularly check camo components wherever I'm hunting, and if they're high, I'll collect some. Even if it's just one of the three, then stash it for later. It definately breaks less (except for those damn kreetles. those need fixing.) and of course, more uses with experimentation.
Pricing, I'm on several customer's mailing lists and get alerts for new spawns as well as offers. I also check SWGcraft.com and the trade forums regularly. It's not difficult to get a good idea of current value. Just takes a little time.
Tibli
Wed Jan 19, 2005 12:08 pm
#9
There are only a couple things that I would like to mention about camo... a pair of rangers with camo is almost undetectable. one looses it the other re-applies. works great.
From my experience with it, it does seem that the better recourses do seem to work a little bit better. However, as you need specific items and types..... I just tend to get what I need and make a factory run of it. It's just easier that way.
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