Ranger Archive

Idea:

New ability for Rangers in addition to Rescue would be taking hits for others. As long as the Ranger is within a certain radius of a player, they can take all attacks from that player onto themselves as if the creature/mob/PC was then attacking them. This would make some interesting PvP tactics and also allow Rangers more utility (protecting the weak but essential members of the group). This skill could be called Defend or something, I'm not much good on names ;-P

Um... that would suck just as bad as Rescue itself... and is almost the same thing, except it'd work on Players too.

What boggles me about Rescue, is it sounds cool until you read the description. Rescue pulls agro to yourself... this would be great... for a profession that actually had the skills and bonuses needed to be a tank. I don't see any bonus to melee defence, ranged defence, or defence vs. creatures, etc. etc. So basically, Rescue = suicide. That type of command belongs on a profession that actually has defensive bonuses. Really... it belongs on something like Teras Kasi Artists... seen all the defensive bonuses they get? Def. vs. Melee, Def. vs. Ranged, Unarmed Toughness, etc. Or even better, such an ability for CH's, to pull agro to their pets (the real tanks of PvM fights).

That's not true, on both counts, though. To begin with, Rescue's purpose is limited in that the only situation where it would matter is that you're close range with the target, in which case you can gain aggro by simply attacking it and having the other person move away. In that respect, SWG's pathetic AI and aggro system hamper the utility of Rescue.

My idea, on the other hand, would allow you to draw fire from every target attacking a certain player from a distance. Firstly, PvE. Imagine a situation where you have to attack multiple targets, all of whom (like almost any enemy in the game) have a ranged weapon to call upon. You are a Ranger, and thus not as battle proficient as your friend, who is a BH/partial ranged weapons specialist or something. You can work as a two-man team. You equip the most heavily protective, heavily HAM draining armor that you can find. You use your Protect skill on your friend, who then initiates combat with the other three enemies. You are getting nailed with blaster fire and posture down/dizzy attacks, but they're only doing 50-25% damage because of your armor.

Meanwhile, your friend behind you is equipped with full tailored, socketed clothes packed with ranged weapon attack up attachments. Your friend is dealing out mass destruction while you're taking 1/4 of the damage that your friend would be taking, out of range of rescue or any other applicable skill.

OK, so that's sort of a reach. You can always bring along friends, charge, maskscent when it's fixed, etc. However, it's in PvP that this really shines (and in PvP where most of the endgame is focused, and the Rangers have almost zero skill).

When you're PvPing, you take lots of damage quickly from intelligent players. A team of BHs and such can initiate a series of knockdowns such that you never have a chance. Users can target weak pools and exploit them. Same tactic applies here. You are the meatshield, packed down with armor, to defend a weaker, high damage dealing target behind you. While you are hit with posture down, knockdown, and dizzy attacks, the person behind you can snipe those people at will. Basically, they have to go through you to get to them, and you're a hell of a lot better equipped for defending them than they are.

Does it work for every character build and in every situation? No. But until AI and aggro improve, it's the only system I could think of that would possibly allow the Ranger to (a) have effective skills in that skill branch and (b) function in PvP. Furthermore, there could be a special Ranger defensive skill that grants bonuses to Melee and Ranged, useable only when Protecting someone and eliminating all offensive capabilities. I dunno, it's just something to think about.