Ranger Archive

There is virtually no change, except the color scheme.

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/conceal

• Issue with aggressive creatures attacking beyond their normal aggression radius when they break /conceal. /conceal can still break, but the creature should not attack if you are outside their normal range.
  
• Issue with creatures warping to your location when they break your camoflauge
  
• The duration of the camoflauge has been noted to be less than the 25 minutes defined in the Coorespondent report
  
• Request to have only creatures/humanoids that would normally attack you attempt to break your camoflauge. Most Rangers simply turn /maskscent off to avoid being insta-attacked by non-aggressive creatures, but you can not manually disable /conceal.
  
• Many Rangers find the current implementation of /conceal to be cost prohibitive. The effective of the camoflauge kits does not offset the incredible resource cost associated with the command.
  
• By the description given in the Coorespondent Responses it was expected that conceal would rarely break, that has not been the result that the Rangers have seen.
  
• Issue regarding social assist animals ignoring /conceal and finding your location immediately, once you attack one of their brethren.
  
• When a person with camoflauge skill has a camoflauge kit applied to them by another player, whose camoflauge skill is used when camoflauge is checked by creatures?
  
• Reports of some Gang Member NPCs ignoring /conceal entirely, and attacking concealed players without breaking concealment.
  
  
  
  • forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=ranger&message.id=13682
  
  
• Request for the ability to /conceal self with out a camo kit once a Player achieves Master
  
• Request to reduce the likelyhood of camoflauge break causing a creature to attack you
  
• Issue where You can not /conceal if you have /maskscent enabled
  
• Issue with attempting to apply /maskscent after /conceal wears off normally. Rangers receive a message stating that /conceal is still active.
  
• Issue with immediately applying /maskscent after /conceal breaks. Apparently the /maskscent acts like /conceal (checking against humanoids) for the remainder of the session.
  
• Issue about concealers being unable to tell whether their group members are concealed or not
  
• The wrong message is displayed when /conceal wears off... You receive the /maskscent message.
  
• There have been posts that /maskscent actually gets worse once you reach the Ranger skill set, perhaps due to conflicts between the Mask Scent and Camo skills.
  
• Request to have /conceal work against Creature Handler pets and Faction pets (but not necessarily their handlers)
  
• Request for /conceal to work against other players. Once you move or attack, you are instantly revealed to all players.

Camoflauge Kits

• Factory Crates of kits have no charges, and each kit therefore has infinite charges
  
• Request to remove the specific resource types from the camoflauge kits. Most Rangers feel that having the resources Planet Specific is sufficient (ie: needing any Dantooine Meat rather than Datonooine Herbivore Meat)
  
• Several of the resources required by camoflauge kits are so rare, that no Ranger has yet to find them (Lok domesticated meat for instance).
  
• Request to be use a camoflauge kit on a tailor made overcoat to produce a Ghillie Suit
  
  
  
  • The suit would last longer than a regular camo kit
    
  • The condition of the coat could be used to regulate the duration of the outfit
    
  • The coat would need to be worn to utilize the camoflauge enhancement
    
  • forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=ranger&message.id=12983
  
  
• Request to have /group conceal added. The command would conceal everyone in a group while using a kit for each group member.
  
• Request to make experimentation on Kits more robust. Perhaps by adding Charges and Effectiveness as separate experiment lines
  
• Request for grease paint graphic on your character when /conceal is active

Traps

• Many Rangers consider the traps to either fail too often or be ineffective when they do work
  
• Issue with using a trap and not receiving any feedback at all (neither success nor failure mesages)
  
• Issue with traps not working in Caves
  
• Request for a macro command for throwing traps, such as /throwtrap bonespur
  
• There is no experimentation possible on Traps
  
• Does distance from a creature have an impact on trap effectiveness?
  
• Request to experiment on the number of charges per trap
  
• Request to experiment on the effectiveness of a trap
  
• Request to experiment on the duration of effect of a trap
  
• Request to be able to throw traps while moving, with an appropiate reduction in Chance-to-Hit
  
• Request for all traps to have HAM icons, so other group members can see what is currently in effect.
  
• Request for an Area Effect Root (stop completely) or Snare (slow down) trap
  
• Request to use traps on Creature Handler pets (possibly receiving no exp for doing so)
  
• Request to use traps on Humanoid NPCs
  
• Request to have traps affect other Players
  
• Request for a Trap Gun
  
  
  
  • Item would propel traps a further 10m than simply throwing them (60m in total)
    
  • Item would increase the Chance-to-Hit of the trap (very useful against the larger creatures)
  
  
• Request for a Damage over Time trap
  
• Request to display the effective ranges and duration of effects for traps on the /examine window for the items
  
• Request for fish traps available at Trapping II

Camps

• Do Ranger camps actually repel aggressive creatures?
  
• Several Rangers feel that the recent changes to the Field Base and High Tech Field Base resource requirements should be reverted back to Polymer and Metal (rather than Hide and Bone).
  
• There is no experimentation possible on Camps
  
• Issue with Field Base and High Tech Field Base healing radius not being large enough to contain all the chairs deployed
  
• Request for deployed camps to inhibit new agressive spawn points from forming near the camp
  
• Request for some resources to be recovered upon manually disbanding camps (automatic disbands will lose all resources)
  
• Request that the healing modifier of camps be applied to natural HAM damage recovery on Creature Handler pets and Faction pets.
  
• Request for High Tech Field Base:
  
  
  
  • To not disband during combat
    
  • To not disband in a set time, rather only when the Ranger leaves the planet or logs out.
    
  • To heal Battle Fatigue with the help of a Dancer or Musician
    
  • Terminal to provide Explore missions.
    
  • Be able to play HoloChess (Dejarik) on the High Tech Field Base's chess board
    
  • To sit/lay down on the cots in the High Tech Field Base
    
  • For the roof of the base to stop rain
  
  
• Request for a permanent, planet specifc, hunting cabin:
  
  
  
  • Creatable and deployable only by a Master Ranger
    
  • Can not be redeeded and moved, only demolished
    
  • Should be buildable on Advanced planets
    
  • Should heal Battle Fatigue like a regular house
    
  • Requires Maintenance and the use of a lot, like a regular house
    
  • Allows for storage of items, and the possible placement of a Vendor
    
  • Only one of these buildings could be deployed at any one time
    
  • The schematic could require some subcomponent made by architect to promote class interdependence
  
  
• Request for a more modular approach to camp crafting
  
  
  
  • This idea might be a little ambitious, but many Rangers like the idea.
    
  • forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=ranger&message.id=2705
    
  • For the interim, the idea could be implemented by adding a couple optional components to the High Tech Field Base schematic
  
  
• Request for the ability to experiment on Ease of Use on camps to allow lesser skilled Scouts to use them
  
• Request for the direction your character is facing to determine the direction of a deployed camp

/examine

• Request to see the type of creature living in a lair upon examining the lair itself
  
• Request to display the bone resource
  
• Request to display the Social Assistiveness of a creature
  
• Request to display the speed of a creature (so we can know whether we can outrun it using burstrun)
  
• Request to re-display the base values (numeric amounts) for the creatures resources
  
  
  
  • As an alternative, perhaps displaying a (tiny,medium,large,huge,gigantic) rather than the true literal value would suffice
  
  
• Request for information regarding what exactly Ferocity actually represents
  
• Request to list the Health/Action/Mind values (we can see the values via the Target Window, so why not list them)

/harvest

• Harvesting Skill Mod seems to be no longer significant enough to make it worthwhile.
  
• Grouping with pets (either Creature handler or Faction) invokes the 60% harvesting rule
  
• Issue where you accidentally harvest a non-existing resource (hide off a Hermit Spider) by using /harvest hide, and after that you are not allowed to harvest the correct resource.
  
• Issue of creatures with skinny resources appearing for 24 hours after the resource has shifted
  
• Request for the ability to harvest multiple resources off a single corpse (up to all 3 types at Master Ranger)
  
• Request for the harvesting skill mod to increase the amount of fish meat filleted off caught fish
  
• Request for a greater chance of higher quality resources spawning on the more advanced planets.
  
  
  
  • The Starter worlds would still get their fair share of high quality material, but there would be a larger chance of better material on the Advanced worlds.
  
  
• Request to add rare loot to creatures that only Rangers can find.
  
  
  
  • Schematics that create Teeth necklaces, Trophy Heads, Hide Rugs, Skulls have been suggested
  
  
• Request for poison components to be harvested off poisonous creatures.
  
  
  
  • These items could then be applied to existing weapons to produce a Damage Over Time effect.
  
  
• Request that the 60% group harvesting value be improved if a Ranger is in the group
  
  
  
  • The improvement could be based on the Ranger's skill level... (62.5% with Skill I, 65%, 67.5%, 70% with Skill IV)
  
  
• Request for ability to determine resource attributes on a corpse before harvesting
  
  
  
  • The ability would provide a list window with the appropiate resource selections available on the targeted corpse (meat / hide / bone)
    
  • Once a selection is made, a player would receive the /examine window for the chosen resource
    
  • The player would not receive a physical resource, only the information regarding its attributes
    
  • The ability could be used multiple times to receive the data on the other available resources
    
  • The information could also contain whether harvesting the resource would produce a Fat, Medium, Skinny result
    
  • The attributes consist of items such as Overall Quality, Unit Toughness, Potential Energy, etc
  
  
• Request for a /group harvest off to turn off the 60% harvesting rule and revert to the earlier rule set
  
• Request to change corpse harvesting to a fixed amount per corpse, rather than the variable method currently being used
  
  
  
  • forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=ranger&message.id=12261
  
  
• Request for Creature Harvesters in the form of traps
  
  
  
  • Work like Mineral harvesters.
    
  • Possibly have a large footprint to keep from having large farms of them around hot spots.
    
  • Would use a lot, like a personal harvester
    
  • A small hopper, perhaps max of 2000
    
  • A slower harvesting rate than a regular harvester
    
  • Schematic is available at a high level in Trapping, perhaps Trapping IV or Master Ranger
    
  • Players would use an innate ability to locate animal migration patterns, much like the Survey interface.
    
  • Request for the "migration patterns" (hot spots) to change on a regular basis (more often than the resource itself). Possibly every 2-3 days.

Color Reference

• Grey: New to List
  
• Yellow: Ranger Top Issue
  
• Red: Will be Affected by Future Changes
  
• Magenta: Officially Announced / On Test Center

/forage

• Many Rangers have requested that /forage pull up the flora components required by the camoflauge kits, at least in small quantities.
  
• Issue with receiving a "Inventory Full" message when your inventory still has space available
  
• Request for foraged goods to come in larger stacks to facilitate more organized inventories
  
• Request for more interaction during a /forage.
  
  
  
  • Perhaps a menu of items that can be foraged, so a player could choose a general category of item to look for
    
  • Suggested categories: Edible, Flora, Inedible, Rare
  
  
• Request to forage herbs that can heal poison and disease
  
• Request for a better chance of receiving rare items

/areatrack

• Request for a Spawn Point tracking option. This way we can track lairs which haven't spawned any creatures yet.
  
• Issue with the command and the vertical plane. Namely problems using it on mountainous terrain
  
• Request for the command to allow the user to input the target type on the command line (such as /areatrack players)
  
• Request to increase the range of the command to 1000m
  
  
  
  • There are also requests to make the range incremental based on skill level. 500,750,1000,1250, and up to 1500 for Master.
    
  • However in order for this to be useful, a greater increase in the dynamic spawn rate would need to occur at a greater radius around the player
  
  
• There is no default macro icon for the command
  
• Issue with Transport Shuttles and Droids being listed in the animal tracker
  
• Request for a Refresh button on the list window
  
• Request for a Tree Structure on the Results window. Related creatures would be listed under a single root tree item
  
• Request for a Pet tracking option
  
• Request for a Droid tracking option

/rescue

• There are concerns it does not work often enough to be useful. Perhaps a better chance of success, or lower mind drain so it can be tried more often.

Misc.

• Many Rangers have noticed a reduction in the number of random (non-mission) spawns when travelling far away from any towns, was this intentional?
  
• Several Rangers feel more attention should be paid to the crafting system. There is a feeling that Ranger crafting could be more robust and diverse.
  
  
  
  • Additional experimentation lines. Such as separating Charges and Effectiveness into two lines, for greater choice (more charges, or better traps?)
    
  • More items (the upcoming camp and trap changes should help in this regard)
  
  
• Request to have a bonus to the Creature Handler Level over the +15 available for non-CH characters.
  
  
  
  • As Rangers are in tune with nature, they should possess a better understanding of creature behaviour, allowing a greater control over regular folk
    
  • This bonus could be granted at the Master level to reduce balance implications
    
  • A bonus of 5-10 points has been suggested
  
  
• Request for binoculars to increase the distance MOBs can be seen on the radar.
  
• Request for a /coax command to force the next wave of a lair to spawn quicker.
  
• Request for a Fishing skill mod that improves a players chance of catching a fish
  
• Request for a Fishing Net that would "net" more fish per use, but still require user interaction.
  
• Request the ability to craft fishing lures that can used in place of bait.

Terrain Negotiation

• Apparently we only receive +95 of the skill at the master level
  
• Several Rangers consider the ability to crawl faster not sufficient enough improvement for such an elite profession such as Ranger
  
• Request to redistribute the Climb and Crawl bonuses differently along the skill line
  
  
  
  • 0-25: Climb bonus, 25-50: Crawl bonus, 50-75: More Climb bonus, 75-100: More Crawl Bonus
  
  
• Request for an improved run speed be associated with Terrain Negotiation
  
• Request for an improved swimming speed associated with Terrain Negotiation
  
• Request for Group Terrain Negotiation to be added to our profession rather than Squad Leader

Request for Skis for use on those snowy mountain slopes, perhaps even snow shoes for quicker navigation over snow.

Creature-to-Hit bonus

• Many melee based Rangers have requested that this bonus be applied to melee weapons as well
  
• If the bonus is already being applied to meleers, kindly change the text description to reflect such
  
• Request for Creature-to-Hit bonus to affect Creature Handler pets (if it doesn't already)
  
• Request to add a Creature-to-Dodge bonus for melee fighters
  
• Request for a group Creature-to-Hit bonus
  
• Request for a Critical Hit on occassion, based on the Creature-to-Hit, that deals a larger amount of damage than normal.
  
• Request for a command that can be used to increase damage against creatures for a certain duration. The increase could be based on the bonus itself.

Ranger Bow

• It has been suggested that a unique weapon would benefit the Ranger profession
  
• The weapon would be something like a modern compound bow
  
• The concept would be one of an effects weapon with limited or no direct damage
  
• The Weapon certification would be provided at the Novice Ranger level
  
• It would require bone, hide, metal, and wood to produce
  
• When used in conjunction with /maskscent or /conceal, a silent shot could be performed to avoid assistive creatures and possibly confuse the creature for a second.
  
• Request to able to harvest poison components of poisonous creatures for creation of Poison arrows
  
• The bow would have a long range (60m)
  
• Equiping the bow would have the same melee damage adjustment as Rifles
  
• Request to inhibit firing the weapon while Prone
  
• Arrow types could consist of a variety of Damage over Time (Nitrogen, Flaming, Shock, Poison, Germ)
  
• Request for the Scout traps to be convertable into arrows that can be used in the Bow
  
• Request for a Net equiped arrow that would perform a Snare/Root effect

Skill Experience

• The experience caps are apparently still set to pre-patch values, and were not adjusted with the increased Scout experience requirements

Color Reference

• Grey: New to List
  
• Yellow: Ranger Top Issue
  
• Red: Will be Affected by Future Changes
  
• Magenta: Officially Announced / On Test Center

NRaas, I just got Novice last night with my new character and want to know if you reccomend going up the Traking line or the Terrain line first?

To sum it up, we're still fancy scouts that have to spend more points. No sign of those new traps, camps, and even if they were coming in tomorrow, its not nearly enough to define the ranger skillset.

Nrass, I almost put up a post a few minutes ago about maybe adding alternative medicine. When the community is not 'undergoing maintenance' I'll be sure to type the whole dam thing up again. Anyway, the basics were that mostrangers are 'solo' rather than group oriented; we'd rather heal in camps than finding a medic we have to pay for their little services; it would only heal damage, not wounds; it would be forested or built. As you can see there was some thought behind it but the actual post was alot more detailed and organized.

When I get around to it I'll type the thing up again. Until then, keep up the good work and the list looks good.

Hey NRaas, great work. One tiny suggestion though: could you include the color reference section at both the top and the bottome of the posts? It just makes things a little easier for those of us lacking in short term memory.

Good work Nraas
Once again you make us look good. If these changes take place...ranger would be much better than it already is.

Draknev

"One tiny suggestion though: could you include the color reference section at both the top and the bottome of the posts?"

I will do so in the next version.

Woah.

One of the best reports I have ever seen on any profession.

Even if only the stuff that's supposed to get fixed works, I'll be back on Ranger in a heartbeart.

160k Scout and 160k trapping and not sure how much survival xp but I know it's maxed.

-- YP

"Bounty Hunter hunting animals. Don't laugh. Every city has multiple mission terminals offering bounties on the local wildlfire, and someone has to take those gorgs out."

Nice list ... but that will take about a year to implement all those changes lol

"but that will take about a year to implement all those changes"

Well, I wasn't expecting instant results.

Conceal issue:

N'Raas, as I said in the other version of this post, and you have updated here, conceal can be canceled by not targetting anything and using /conceal again.

However, you must have the skill to do so. If a non-ranger has been concealed by another, they cannot toggle it off. They get the message "You must have the conceal skill to do this". So the same concern that was listed for us still stands, it is just more limited in scope.

(Sadly, due to its current bugs, we could go around griefing people by concealing them and increasing their chances of getting an aggressive creature to attack. Fortunately the kits are too time consuming to bother with...)

"However, you must have the skill to do so."

Hmmm... Good point.

I will add a note regarding that issue... But it might become obsolete once /conceal is fixed.