Bounty Hunting

Informants

Bounty hunter missions rewards players by allowing them to track down npc and jedi player targets. Bounty hunters obtain their missions from Bounty Hunter mission terminals to which only they can have access to. Bounty hunter missions come in 3 tiers - Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Which tier a bounty hunter is in depends on the hunter's Bounty Mission Difficulty modifier. Each level of bounty mission difficulty modifier pushes the bounty hunter into the next subsequent tier. The bounty mission difficulty modifier also affects the mission payout cap and minimum payout range for each tier's missions.

These tiers

have different npcs allocated to them for the player to obtain mission target's bio-signature information from after the bounty hunter has obtained the mission from the terminal. Each level of the Bounty Mission Difficulty modifier increases the payrange level of the missions acquired and subsequently require the player to get missions from the different informant tiers as the bounty hunter progresses. A player may only acquire one bounty mission at a time.

Bounty Informant Types:

• Novice Informants
• Intermediate Informants
• Advanced Informants

Tools used: Probe Droids

Arakyd Probe Droid = your interplanetary search. This is the first step in your search for your mark, because it tells you which planet he is on. This is done by using the Transfer Signature Command. Once this is used the droid will then launch off and the bounty hunter must wait for a period of time (dependant on their droid speed modifier) for the location of the target and for the waypoint to be set. Probe droids can be used again in order to update the target's coordinates, although they are later suceeded by seeker droids (which have the find and track ability). Interplanetary searches don't come into play until Investigation-2.

Seeker Droids = your search after you're on the right planet. After coming to the right planet, This droid will create a waypoint to the target after it has located it using the find ability (uses the droid speed timer which is the same timer as probe Droids for the waypoint return). After the waypoint is returned it can be used again to locate the target to update the current waypoint using the Find option. Later on, the bounty hunter obtains the Find and track option which will find the target, deliver a waypoint and then update the waypoint by itself for a certain number of times. This also has a timer in between updates but it is dependant on the tracking speed modifier and not droid speed.

Hunting the target

When you first start out at Novice BH, your SpyNet operative gives you a waypoint to your mark. The mark will always be at the given waypoint and the target will always be on the same planet you are on. At Investigations 1, you start using Seeker Probe Droids and have access to the Find option which allows you to send the droid off to search for the target. The mark will still be on your planet of origin, but you won't get a waypoint to him. Instead, the SpyNet operative gives you a "biosignature" sample from the mark, supposedly culled when he uses a public shuttleport or starport terminal. Once you do that, you can then use Find on the Seeker droid (the black spheres used by Darth Maul to locate Queen Amidala in Episode 1, and you can buy Bounty Hunter droids from a droid-engineer vendor) to locate your quarry. After a certain amount of time (dependant on your droid precision modifier), you'll receive a waypoint. Note: marks seem to be given a random faction upon creation. If you kill the mark then you lose faction standing with that group. Marks are not aggressive until the player attacks them or unless the mark is on a faction that the player is aggressive with. Also only one tracking droid may be active at a time.

Bounty Hunter Mission	Novice Bounty Hunter Mark	Seeker Droid Tracking
Mission Completed

At Investigation-1, your mark doesn't move around, so tracking him down is still relatively straightforward.

Things get much more interesting at Investigations 2, because two things are now changed: Your marks can now show up on any planet; and they move! Marks can potentially leave the planet after a while and the bounty hunter will have to track their signature again. Unfortunately, you don't unlock Droid Tracking until Investigation 3.

So, the drill for Investigation-2 missions is as follows:

1. Get your mission from a mission terminal

2. Consult with an intermediate-level SpyNet operative (the level-2 guys) and obtain a biosignature

3. Travel outside the city limits, then call down an Arakyd Probe Droid from an orbiting starship. These are the bulbous-headed droids that crash-landed on Hoth in search of the rebel base at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back.

4. Upon launching the droid, there will be a wait of 20 seconds of which you will get a countdown until the droid lands via a system message starting at the 5 second mark. Watch for and listen for the explosion of the landing probot! That is where the probot will emerge, reading as an "Imperial Probot Base". Sometimes, the droid will land outside of your radar, but generally no more than 100 meters from you. When it crash-lands near you, move to it, pull up it's radial menu, and select the "Transfer Biological Signature" command. It acknowledges your input with a message that it's commencing an interplanetary search and zooms into space.

5. After about a minute, you will receive a message, either some sort of malfunction like "Your droid has been destroyed by a comet" or "Your droid has exploded in space," or that it has located your mark on such-and-such planet. You then travel to that planet.

6. When you've landed on the correct planet, you will notice that you now have a waypoint. This will be the waypoint of the target's last monitored location - what the probot detected. It is now your unhappy task to travel to that waypoint in the hope that your mark will be there. Chances are he won't be, because as I said earlier, they now move.

7. When you reach your abandoned waypoint, send up a Seeker Probe Droid. After a moment, it will activate a new waypoint. Go there, and see if he's still there. He probably won't be, so repeat this step as often as needed until you catch up to him.

8. Eliminate your mark, and collect your reward and PHAT xp bonus! (phat, it is not!)

Investigation 3-4

Same as above except that the bounty hunter now has access to the find and track ability that allows seeker droids to offer continuous updates over a period of tracks. The speed of these updates is dependant on the tracking speed modifier and the number of updates it will do before the bounty hunter has to use another droid is dependant on the modifier from Tracking Droids.

Bounty Hunter Experience

Bounty Hunter experience is a percentage based off of the payout on the mission.

There's a simple formula to calculate Bounty Hunter xp

50 bounty credits earned = 1 investigation xp or credits x .02 = XP Jedi bounties seem to be (.1 / 3 ) x credits

In other words, if you take a bounty mission for 5000 credits, you are awarded 100 inv xp upon completion. If you complete a bounty worth 10000 credits, you earn 200 inv xp.

So if you take a bounty with high mission difficulty you WILL earn more XP. However, this isn't specifically due to the mission difficulty, but rather that more difficult bounties pay more than lower difficulty missions.

NOTE: The more proficient you are with the weapon you have equipped when choosing the mission and the more damage that weapon deals out, the higher the pay you can generate from the terminals. In otherwords, if you have LLC 4 and pick a mission with your LLC equipped, you will generate higher paying missions (and again, remember this means more inv xp in the end) than if you equip a pistol with only BH pistol 1 (or even 4, as the LLC causes more damage than your pistol).

Currently there is a quick way to getting BH XP and that is by jamming the uplink terminal in a base, which when done will award 1000 XP. If you are declared member of your faction, and you enter a base of the opposite faction and there is an uplink terminal, you have the option to jam the terminal on the radial menu (if you are not currently being attacked and if you have Inv2). You are then presented with a small puzzle, which takes a short amount of time to complete. Upon doing so you are awarded the 1000 BH XP. Jamming the uplink terminal is the first step in taking over any base, and the XP is awarded even if the rest of the steps are not completed. I believe uplink terminals can only be jammed once per day, but perhaps less now, at least on NPC bases.

First person to slice is the Bounty Hunter on the Uplink Terminal: He will have to walk up next to the uplink to begin the process of jamming the uplink. Open up the radial menu and click on the jam uplink. When you begin your jamming process you will see a set of number 1-10. (Make sure that your system messages is enabled in your options) I would recommend you pick 5 at this point because it’s in the middle. You will get a system message that tells you’re too higher or lower. If it were lower I'd choose 3. If it were higher I'd choose 8. As you can see you will eliminate the time if you keep narrowing it down as quick as possible. Once you find the right number you will have to rinse and repeat this method. You will get 1000 xp and a successful slice when you’re finished.

Bounty Mark Behavior

SO… after spending WAY TOO MUCH time with the investigation line (remember, insane person here that went through the entire inv. line without skipping), I think I finally mapped every single path line for a bounty mark and have mapped out where and when a bounty will fail, either by you losing the TEF, the mark disappearing into thin air, the mark warping into the next galaxy, marks getting stuck in walls, the waypoint for the mark not moving, etc… Most of the follow is referenced to moving marks, but most will apply to stationary ones as well.

I have diagrams. I have notes. I have diagrams and notes from every planet out there (yes even Endor and Lok, LOL). I have filled so many /bug reports it almost isn’t funny.

But I can now say with 100% certainty where and when all these things will happen. I am still trying to write up a detailed list to send to the DEVs… but for now… this is just a sample of what I have and hope it may help someone, someday (as to not make it too long):

1) Rendered drawing of player placed buildings.

Problem: This alone is the number 1 reason why you would lose a TEF to a mark (i.e. they go white on radar and are unattackable). As will be referenced in number 5 below… a bounty mark waypoint is just that… a waypoint. The system will not render (i.e. graphically draw for you to see) the mark until you are 108m away from it. This is exact. The issue here… player placed buildings get low priority getting rendered into the system for you to view it. At some point during the hunt, the system gets “scrambled” to the point where it has to both draw player placed buildings AND draw the mark, assuming he is near the draw points. The mark (person) gets higher priority, so it draws him “invisible”. THEN the system draws in the buildings. Now the system will redraw the mark again and the mark will lose its set of variables, including the TEF which you would have had had there been no buildings to draw.

Solution: The TEF system should not keep variables on the mark. It should keep a separate variable for the BH once the mission is chosen.

Work around: This is especially important in starter planets with tons of player structures, but even one will do it. In fact, I have traced locations, like for example anywhere in a ring around Coronet or Moenia, for example, there are others, where anywhere between 900m out and 2200m out… the structures will cause the TEF to go south. SO… do not try to pin down a bounty mark anywhere near a player structure, say 200m (houses in particular) that is within that range above to a large city. As I will mention below… giving the mark room to run by you running away can sometimes lower your stress factor .

=== 2) Chasing marks far outside of cities and why they vanish or lose their TEF.

Problem: Same as number 1 above except that instead of player structures, the system renders random spawns and / or timed ones. Yes… there are timed spawns for things in specific land areas in this game. Not just draws them in, but draws them out (this is part of the same bug that causes animal and NPC mobs to vanish too). SO… you are, say for example, 3000m away from a city and no where near a player placed anything, you track your mark and even use Ranger Tracking if you have it, and locate a waypoint right near you. You run there… but there is nothing there but the waypoint. Sometimes, though much rarer, the mark is there but has gone “white” and unattackable. This happens in 5 locations I have specifically identified more often than anywhere else and accounts for 99% of every time this bug happens. Again… this is because the system is redrawing specific location spawns nearby, and not just the TEF, but the entire area sometimes goes poof on you, taking your mark with it. I say 5 locations because there are a total of 68 different paths I have mapped out that a mark can take adding up all travels on every planet and pretty much think I have all of them down (in terms of moving marks).

Solution: Again, the TEF should keep a separate variable for the BH once the mission is chosen and not put it on the mark. Also, spawn redraws should not affect NPCs that are not supposed to be part of the area spawn to begin with.

Work around: DO NOT chase marks into the following 5 areas. Let them run past it if at all possible: a) Anywhere N or NE of Mos Eisley beginning at 700m away, up until 1000m away from Mos Taike or Mos Espa AND anywhere within 2000m of Jabba’s Palace (this includes just outside, and rarer times the whole city, of Wayfar). b) Anywhere N, NE, or E of Coronet City from 700m away from the city to 4500m away (especially going E of Coronet toward the Battleground 4000m to the East.) c) Anywhere E or Se of Tyrena from 700m away to about 2000m. In fact… anywhere between Tyrena and Coronet will have a 90% chance of something going wrong with the mark. d) Any other city on Corellia or Talus within a range of any repeating spawns of range 700m to 2000m. Also, the entire island city in the FAR SW (forget name) on Corellia. This is random here and I have yet to figure out why marks poof and we lose out TEF inside this city every so often. e) ANY outpost on Endor within the range of 700m to 1500m to that outpost. (More on this below…

=== 3) Marks not running to cities.

Problem: On most planets, bounty marks run to cities (simulating them trying to reach a ship of some kind to get away). Lok and Endor are unique. There are 7 different paths that a mark can take running through Endor, only 2 actually have them running to outposts. On Lok, the 5 paths never go anywhere near the lone outpost. More often than not you WILL run into the wilderness and give chase in hostile territory on these planets.

Solution: None. Unless they make it easier, I guess.

Work around: One of 2 options… a) Abort all Endor and Lok missions. b) For those of you who find this unacceptable or love a challenge… for Endor… head to nearest outpost and try to cut off the mark ahead of his run path using the formula that the waypoint is always moving AND that it moves at 182m per minute exactly, but watch the areas right around the outposts… they may respawn and may take away your TEF. On Lok, just run SOUTH about 3500 to 4000m from Nym’s stronghold. That’s it. Silly huh? The mark runs back and forth on Lok in 5 different ways, but ALWAYS, given enough time… will end up crossing the point of 4000m south of Nym’s. SO… run there, and then send up droids (no matter what else the waypoint is telling you) and take a chance from there getting ahead of him as stated above like Endor.

Mission by Planet:

• Naboo - Mark will be traveling from one city to the next. Sometimes hard to determine which city. They do not always travel to the closest one.
• Corellia - Same as Naboo. I had more bugged missions on this planet than any. I suggest aborting unless you feel like torture.
• Tatooine - Same as Naboo.
• Dantooine - Mark will be traveling to one of the 3 outposts. Very easy to determine.
• Dathomir - Marks will be heading to one of the two outposts. Very easy to determine. I had at least 5 missions where my mark was waiting in the outpost when I arrived.
• Endor - Marks will often be heading out to the middle of nowhere. Long missions and dangerous planet. Endors is fun though.
• Lok - Marks will alway be heading away from Nym's. Longest missions and dangerous planet.
• Yavin 4 - Marks will be heading toward one of the outposts. Medium difficulty.
• Talus - Marks will be heading toward one of the cities/outpost. Easy.
• Rori - Same as Talus.

4) Droids not reporting any bounty mark movement.

Problem: You track a mark to a planet. After you start filling in the Investigation line, the marks move. SO… you send a droid up to find out which way the mark is heading and the droid reports the same location. You do it again, same waypoint. Now... you know the waypoints move, and always at 182m per minute (UNLESS the mark is already in a city, waiting… then he may still be there or waiting for a ship and goes to another planet). You may actually think the mark took a break and run to the non-moving waypoint only to find nothing there. Even Ranger Track shows nothing.

Solution: This is a known bug with seeker droids AND in combo with what area the mark was initially placed at. Remember also… the mark does not get put into “play” as a waypoint until the first droid (be it seeker or probe) finds him. This is somehow wrong… the mark waypoint should be put into the system as soon as the mission is accepted, but it isn’t.

Work around: IF you send up a droid and your investigation is at the level were the mark should move, after the first droid “hit”… the mark is moving. No matter what the droids are telling you. You have 2 choices: a) Run to the waypoint if it is close to you and then send up a droid, or send up a probe droid even if you are on the same planet. This will “knock” the system back into place and give you the right waypoint direction. b) Take a shuttle to any other city on that planet. Taking shuttles also seems to “knock” the system into place and makes the waypoint move again. NOTE: This does not happen on Lok, and if it happens, will happen more often on Tatooine, Corellia, or Endor. On these planets, especially Tatooine, this will happen when the mark starts his waypoint run in a city (Wayfar on Tatooine is a great example, do not get caught running to Warfar when all the while the Mark is running toward Mos Espa ).

5) How the mark waypoints work and how to prevent marks from getting into walls or getting stuck in the middle of an ocean.

Problem: Marks are waypoints. That’s it. If you get nothing else from this whole write up… this is it. Until the system renders and draws them, they do not exist in the game. Once you understand this… you understand the need to be very careful about where you “pop” your mark. Remember… the waypoint must be 108m away from you to draw. Your radar distance has nothing to do with this. Also, the waypoint stops moving when you reach the 500m threshold. Once you are closer than 500m to the mark (waypoint), the waypoint stops moving. NO MATTER what else you do, even if you run away after getting, say 498m to the waypoint, the waypoint will not restart moving. This is key… See, the system will stop the waypoint at 499m and then draw it once you get within 108m of the mark. That is all the system will do. Period. The rest is based on location… IF you stopped the waypoint in the middle of the ocean or inside a wall, then when you get near the mark, the system will draw him in that exact spot.

Solution: Make the waypoints “smarter” by actually being conscious of what is around them when they render. Of course, we know this will be tough because the system does not seem to care about many physical object and things in the game (like shooting through mountains ???).

Work around: NEVER stop a waypoint from moving (unless you can’t help it) by getting within 500m of the waypoint if you know it is going to cause a drawing issue. Most graphic cards can draw up to 500m away, so you should be able to tell that 500m ahead of you is a LARGE lake and that you will not be able to shot anything that far away in it (cause you cannot start shooting while swimming). Also, if you someone end up with a mark inside a wall… you are stuck unless you have a melee pet that can agro the mark into moving (you can do this by sending the pet into the attack and then calling him back to you).

The key to running these missions is understanding how and when the mark will begin moving. Normally 5 to 12 minutes after you have received the initial planetary update your mark will change locations. The first move will be around 2km from the initial WP. After this first jump the mark will continue to travel in a straight line. On all planets except for Lok, Endor, and Yavin (I think) the mark will try to escape toward a NPC city, normally one with a starport. It may not necessarily be the closest city. After the first jump the mark will travel at a constant 182m per minute. Once you come within 500m of the mark he will freeze, whether that is at the initial WP or once he's begun moving.

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