Star Wars Galaxies: Ranger Rocking!

Wayfaring

Scent mask is now the realm of scouts. Rangers will now get a similar ability called /conceal. A Ranger's conceal ability works very much like scentmask, except for three differences. First, it is a lot more potent: it lasts longer (up to 25 minutes for a Master Ranger) and it rarely breaks. Second, it can be applied to other players. You can now conceal your friends to give them a chance to sneak past enemies as well. The success of the conceal depends on the skill of the Ranger who applied it. Third, it requires a component to apply: a camouflage kit. Camouflage kits are crafted by the Ranger and are planet specific. For example, a Desert Camouflage Kit will allow a Ranger to conceal themselves on Tatooine. Each camouflage kit is assembled from resources gathered on the planet it affects. Camo kits for advanced planets like Endor may be fairly difficult to assemble.

The Ranger will earn experience for successful sneak checks by players he conceals.

It is also possible that the rescue command will be beefed up and moved to the Wayfaring tree (it doesn't really fit in trapping). Bugs with rescue are being fixed as well.

Frontiering

The most important change to Frontiering will be the introduction of special camps. These camps will not operate like a normal rest camp. The Ranger's "Hunting Blind" will give him special bonuses to attracting and hunting creatures as long as he stays within it. Other special camps with unique functionality are being designed.

Bugs with camps repelling creatures will be fixed...see the scout correspondent response post for information on camp xp related changes and fixes.

Field Bioscience --> Tracking

The Field Bioscience skill tree will be renamed Tracking. All of the current functionality will remain with two major additions.

/scanarea - At Novice Ranger, the Ranger will recieve the /scanarea command. Players familiar with EQ's tracking system will understand how this works. You can search the area for animals, people, or players. As you climb the tracking tree, more options and information (like direction and distance) will appear. This should make rangers effective at completing hunting missions or tracking down a specific target.

/track - Higher up the Tracking tree, the Ranger will earn the /track command. The /track command will let the Ranger specify a specific creature he wants to find. Hunting for a Veermok? If you are in a region where Veermok live, you can /track for one. Tracking a creature will lead the player on a small mission to find a creature in the area (or in the case of a critical success or failure...an unexpected surprise). Whereas scanarea checks for already existing mobs in the area, /track can be used even if a Veermok lair (or whatever creature you want to find) isn't nearby.

Advanced Trapping

Rangers are getting a whole new trapping system. Instead of throwing their traps at a target like Scouts, Rangers will deploy their traps on the ground. Each trap will have a different kind of effect. Here are some examples:

Heavy Claw Trap - In order to use this trap, you'll need to draw a creature across it. When the creature draws near enough, the heavy claw trap snaps shut, rooting the creature. The stronger the creature, the more likely it will eventually work itself free.

Lure - A lure can be filled with meat or greens to attract nearby creatures. A creature who detects a lure might break off from its packmates to inspect it.

Tripwire - The tripwire trap can be laid against NPCs as well as creatures. A target who runs across the tripwire will be knocked on his back for a short time.

These unique traps should increase the Ranger's effectiveness soloing and in groups.

When Do We Get It

I hope to have the implementation of these new features wrapped up soon, but since the Ranger is getting a lot of new functionality to make up for a weak initial skill set, it may take a bit longer to get these features to you. The new traps and wayfaring changes are very close to being ready to go, with the tracking and camps to follow some time after.

Most of the other concerns in the Ranger correspondent report are covered in the Scout response, so go check that out. The key thing for Rangers is the new functionality that should make them a more unique and interesting profession

-Raph Koster, Creative Director