Rifleman Archive
Thread: Should I choose Ranged Support IV or Scout with Explo I?
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Barb-Wire
Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:28 pm
#1
with vehicles you dont need scouting after pub7 since you can yank a vehicle anytime. but scouting explore4 and you can use hills and mountains to get away from monsters on foot that you couldnt normally run from without burst.
i dont think marksmen is at all worthwhile short of master where master rifle gets a huge speed boost. /aim basically caps you at 2 seconds per attack if your master marksmen and master rifle. even larger cap if your not master marksmen. supression fire almost never works on NPC or PC. the only useful marksmen skill is warning shot which works reliably on creatures up to about CL75.
i dont think marksmen is at all worthwhile short of master where master rifle gets a huge speed boost. /aim basically caps you at 2 seconds per attack if your master marksmen and master rifle. even larger cap if your not master marksmen. supression fire almost never works on NPC or PC. the only useful marksmen skill is warning shot which works reliably on creatures up to about CL75.
DarthKirby001
Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:45 pm
#2
HelRaiZer wrote:
Well Ranged support gets you suppression fire, AIM (I never used it) and warningshot (might be usefull when melee defense is gone). Suppression fire gives you the ability to do a macro KD (When it works)
In theory, flurry shot (dizzy) + suppression (posture down) sounds like a good combo. However I have only gotten it to work once in PvP, and even then I had to shoot about7 times for it to stick. Not worth it at all, in the time I got it to work, I could've killed the guy with strafeshots.
christianohamtaro
Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:20 am
#3
As I am master Doc/ Rifleman, I would have about 19 Skill Points left.
Which one do you guys think it might work better between Ranged Support IV or Scout with Explo I (for terrain nego)
Just give some opinions 
christianohamtaro
Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:31 am
#5
hmm... Both
Well just like in general, what do you think it would work best?
HelRaiZer
Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:37 am
#6
Well Ranged support gets you suppression fire, AIM (I never used it) and warningshot (might be usefull when melee defense is gone). Suppression fire gives you the ability to do a macro KD (When it works)
Scout gives you a little better running over hills, the maskscent will be useless that low. (I dropped scout completely) Only miss scout when I'm slowly walking up a hill. HOWEVER, scout gives you the ability to harvest, WHICH can make you money.
I dropped both of these and don't miss either.
Dropped them for Medic
LaserDood
Thu Mar 11, 2004 6:03 pm
#7
Go with the scout, at least you can keep harvesting some avian and herbivore meat to support your
doctor side.Or you could switch back and forth at need. That little amount of combat exp isnt that much
to get ranged support back if you want or need it. I'm MD going Master Rifle and switching between
novice scout and novice artisan to get resources I need.
Sotaudi
Sat Mar 13, 2004 1:25 am
#8
christianohamtaro wrote:
As I am master Doc/ Rifleman, I would have about 19 Skill Points left.
Which one do you guys think it might work better between Ranged Support IV or Scout with Explo I (for terrain nego)
Just give some opinions
The first profession I mastered was Scout. Going up Rifle, I also picked up Ranged Support IV. I had this combo all the while I leveled rifle. After making Master Rifleman, I mastered Swordsman. I then decided to Master Brawler to pickup Lunge2 for a KD move. However, to do thisand keep Novice Medic to heal myself during battles, that meant that I had to give up all of Scout and Ranged IV.
To tell the truth, I miss neither all that much. The terrain negotiation losses are mitigated by the fact that I can traverse hills diagonally and not lose that much speed, I can ride a vehicle or mount crossing longer distances (and with the next publish, even pull them out without a camp), and the need to use hills and such to keep monsters away is usually less of an issue because of my high level brawler skills. Also, I quit using most of the skills from Ranged Support IV long before I hit Master Rifleman. For me, /Aim and /Suppressionfire could have some usefulness, but not enough to give up Novice Medic and the ability to heal myself to spend 14 points on Ranged Support.
In short, I have enough compensating factors to make most of what I gave up less of an issue for me. So the only things I really miss are from Scout and that would be the abilty to pull my ride out anywhere (changing with publish 7) and the ability to help my guildmates by gathering resources through creature harvesting (nothing I can do here except help them kill stuff).
For your build, you will not have some of the compensating factors I have. However, the terrain negotiation, I think will be less of an issue for you than the ranged support stuff. As I said, you can get around without it, andbesides, most PvP is in areas (inside or near cities) where terrain negotiation is moot. I am assuming you would not give up Novice scout, just Explore IV vs. Ranged Support IV, so you would still be able to harvest for your Doc needs. So the only thing you are really losing by giving up Explore IV is you will be a little slower sometimes and you will not have Masked Scent. I think you can get by with out those.
Ranged Support, however, will give you /AIM, which is not as important at Master, but may help you hit defense stackers even after they cap it. Without the melee skills I have, /Warningshot may help you keep things off of you that I do not care about getting close to me. The same is true of /SuppressionFire. It may help stop something in its tracks giving you a chance to get away. It may also trigger a voluntary posture change leading to a KD if is ahumanoid target that is also dizzy.
Therefore, I would think, in your case, Ranged Support IV would be more useful to you than Exploration IV.
ZaneDvarschiller
Sun Mar 14, 2004 1:27 pm
#9
I was faced with the same dilemma as you - to give up suppression fire or the ability to harvest... I chose the ability to harvest. I have only novice scout, but I when I pop one of those foods - damn, can't remember the name right now but it give's you +30 to harvesting - my novice scout harvests the same amount as a scout with hunting 4. I have never regretted the decision to leave suppression fire behind, and that was several months ago.
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