Scout Archive

...by all but the smallest mobs. It's taking forever just to get 100 hide of anything. I've got a CDEF rifle and a CDEF pistol. Suggestions for harvesting hide more efficiently?

examine your combat style is my advice, you can get a lot of extra performance out of your skills by fighting smart. things to remember:

1. You alctually have 4 rangeds for combat. Melee/short/medium/long.

• Rifles are good in long,


• Carbines are good in medium.


• Pistol's are good in short.


• However, most creatures will rush you to melee range, where Melee Weapons shine.

Solutions? Either also pick up some brawling and use that survival knife like Holo taught you, or pick up Point Plank Shot, Single (which I think you have as a novice marksman anyway, or pistol I). PB Shot will reduce the melee range penalties and packs a pretty good punch for me, usually. I imagine if you are really being swarmed, you can use PB Shot, Area, but I haven't played with that to check it's effectiveness yet.

2. Know your postures.

• Standing has the advantage of being able to move around. However, moving while firing drops your to-hit numbers liek a rock.


• Kneeling has increased range bonuses, but increased damage recieved from melee attacks (i.e. creatures)


• Prone accentuates the above further but also sometimes limits your ability to see a target.

Solutions? Prone or kneeling is a good way to start a fight with a creature, but make sure you are standing when they get to you.

3. The toolbar is your friend.

• You can place your weapons in it for quickly switching out to a new combat style (to take advantage of optimal ranges on weapons)


• Place your often used combat skills in it.


• These allow you to use your F keys to increase your reaction times to new situations.

Solutions? Planning is everything. Have the right toolbar settings for the job!

Ok, so to combine these general attitudes (I'm no expert, these are pertty basic), we have the following "strategy tips"

When soloing, start a fight in as low a posture as you can from as far out as you can target with yoru rifle. Once you figure they are getting towards medium range you may want to switch to pistol. As they start getting towards melee range,stand and start point blank shotting them. You want to change that posture a bit before they actually get to you.

If you have a friend, if they are not in mele range with you, then they can fire at anything that starts getting in melee range with you without penalty, and you them. If only one of you is charged, you could also drop to a kneeling posture for the extra hit.

Additionally, if you are dealing with a slow moving creature, you could try running and kiting it around while your friend stays kneeling and firing shots at it. you'll only hit once in a while, but he should hit much more often. If you are fast enough (or rather, if it is slow enough), neither of you should be hurt at all. This one will not often work, but comes in real handy when it does.

So ends the lesson of Combat 100,

JPHoggatt

Hmm, JP had some good points but I disagree with some things he said. First of all, unless you want to become a marksman, stick with only one weapon, you'll advance faster and get better special moves, plus switching weapons in combat sounds like a pain to me. Always use your special moves when attacking creatures. JP sounds like he likes the 'point blank' shot. I found it to be very weak. I may have hit more often because the range penalty was gone but my other specials do way more damage and the tradeoff isn't worth it in my opinion.

Once I got my axe I don't even use guns anymore. There are many axes on the bazaar that are really cheap and most give 40-98 damage but there are also ones that give 40-160 damage! With all the animals that run right up to you, a melee weapon is the best IMO. Get a few powerups for it as well...these include ones that increase damage, increase speed of attack, as well as increase range. You can only use one at a time, but they wear down andwhen that happens you have one on standby to replace it.I've seen them go for as cheapas 50 credits each. When I use traps in combination with my axe I can kill most creatures in just 2-3 hits, sometimes with just 1 if you use the right trap! There has not been a single destroy mission that I wasn't able to do by myself. I never take ones less than 1000 credits now.

The main disadvantage to the axe is if you're attacked by a marksman, you have to get up close to them to attack. I avoid those baddies and have burst run ready if I need to get away. Even so, you can still take out them pretty fast as long as you get close enough and they don't run away first.

I suggested the switching weapons because he is already using both Rifle and Pistol. I personally just stick with pistol. In any case, it's actually not that hard to switch at all. youdrag both items into your toolbar, and then tapone to remove the current, followed by the other to equip the next. takes less time than an attack and keeps optimal ranges going on your weapons.

*shrug* my experience on the PB shot has been good. It's cheap to use, I usually hit, and it's damage isn't that bad to me. What abilities are you usng in melee range instead?

JPHoggatt

Here's something that might help a Scout out in a fight:

Your bone spur trap does signifcant mind damage. A rifle's head shot does significant mind damage. Most creatures have a comparatively small mind pool. So:

Lead off with a trap if the critter is in range, a head shot if it's too far to trap.

Land a trap as soon as the creature is in range (This has the added bonus of blinding the critter, reducing its chance to hit you.)

Continue to head shot it to death.

Starting the fight prone helps your accuracy, and taking cover (Rifle tree skill) seems to make them take longer to find you. (That's subjective, I'm not sure if it's true or not. I'd appreciate information on the actual effects of Cover, if anyone knows them.) Stand when the mob gets close.

I can drop whites before they hit me twice with this method. If the fight lasts longer than that, you'll want to switch to pistol, since you take heavy damage from melee while holding a rifle.

Remember, too, not all CDEF's are created equal. Some have significantly greater damage and speed, so make sure you're using a good one. Also, always use a power-up. Many budding artisans are making them faster than they can give them away, and they can give your damage a huge boost.

Hope that helps.

Dara K'Estell <Chilastra>

I agree the key is knowing weapons and throwing traps

I have a scout with trapping III, with Rifle Expert and Advanced Pistol & Adv. Ranged from marksman.

I usually start combat with the target just barely in range. Fire off a headshot or a /aim or chargeshot to knock it down. If the creature starts running at me i que up a bone spur or noise maker which damage both their health and mind pools. Then if they're close I switch to pistol and que up a threaten shot to back them off a bit and fire then fire off a body shot.

When in groups I usually start off with a Glow Trap or a Glow-Wire Trap then a noise maker or Phenacine Needle Trap, and then switch to whichever weapon has a special attack to most damage the pool that the creature has least of.

If you are using a ranged weapon make sure you get one attack with your ranged weapon in before throwing the trap. The creatures take longer to start rushing you if you hit them with a ranged weapon from prone first.

For specials you want to continously use one that damages a single pool. It is much more efficient to use bodyshot repeatedly than using a random pool attack like point blank or overcharge shot. If you plan on picking up a melee weapon as well make sure that its special attacks do the same pool damage as your ranged weapon.

Interesting tips. I may try one or two out.

I don't use a rifle and I don't use traps that do mind wounds. I throw the trap thatmakes them more vulnerable to ranged and then use the "Body Shot" special move to focus solelyon their health bar.

Last night, I got Trapping III. With the new "snare" type trap, I go prone from 48m, throw the trap and then start in on the body shots. After 5 or so hits, the snare wears off and I stand, but the "tough" mobs are almost dead and a few more body shots finishes them off and I take very little damage. Maybe 25% max. Sometimes I never even get hit.

Speaking of "tough", where are these people coming up with green, blue and red mob colors? All mine look the same, but /conning them indicates things like, "It's not match for you." "It's an even match" "The creature looks tough." "The creature looks very tough." or "The creature looks like instant death!"

Lyfisin

aka "Orion"

Don't stand - just go to kneeling from prone. Standing (or worse running) is murder on your accuracy.

As to the con color, look at the little circle to the right of the targets HAM display. The color of the circle shows the mobs relative risk to you.

Green - No contest at all. Blue - no real challenge but worth fighting in numbers (and they can still kill you given enough of them at once) White = Even match. These will be your bread-n-butter. Yellow = Tougher than you are. Unless you've got stellar equipment and very good tactics it's probably too much for you to handle solo.

Red = Don't even think about it.

Keep in mind too, that a creatures con is based off your skill with the weapon you are using. A creature that cons white to you while useing a CDEF rifle will likely con dk blue if you use a dlt20 rifle. Even if the con doesn't change, the improved damage of better weapons will help greatly.

Porthos, thanks for the info.

Regarding Standing vs Kneeling, I'll have to test it. I know you aren't as accurate when you stand, but I thought you took more melee damage when you were kneeling. Has anyone done any testing to see which might be better?

I don't feel like I'm having a significantly hard time hitting mobs while I'm standing.

Lyfisin

aka "Orion"

I use many of the techniques the others have used. I find that going prone from about 45-50 m with my rifle conceals me. Not sure on the actual game effectivness of cover and camuflage, but I did notice they find me faster if I'm not in grass or bushes, when pron.

I recently got the Aim, Body and Head shot abilities. I will line up while pron, do Aim, then body or head shot, depending on the pool. If I'm well hidden, it takes the creature several seconds of wadering around before it comes running at me. Once it starts towards me I stand, through a trap, and then continue firing.

When first starting this was pretty much my tactic, with out specials, and it worked OK. I have picked up Int. Rifle and Pistol, but in the end will probably only go with rifle. Now with the new specials I have a much easier time soloing. The key to this game is all about using the special abilities, and the right combination for the situation. Remember this game is not like most others we have played, like EQ, where you just start doing more damage and hitting more for advancing. You need to use the abilities you gain, and use tactics. And rangers aren't meant to be the combat masters. I picked up Marksman to kind of compensate for that.

Squidwalker.