Personal Trail Markers

At 175 ranks of Scouting skill, a Ranger can create a personal trail marker (PTM).

Creating a Personal Trail Marker

Step 1: Forage a rock

Step 2: Beseech Elanthia to Imbue the rock

Step 3: Mark the rock with a knife (skinning, carving, etc. Some knives do not work)

>mark my rock with my knife

Examining the salient features of the surroundings, you use your skinning knife to chisel a rough map into your skinning knife that identifies your trailhead.

Step 4: Study the rock

>study my rock

You study your trail marker rock, attempting to commit the location to memory. Creating a trail marker to mark this location, you sketch a circle around two diamonds on the ground to mark your trail.

Note:

• The study step places a trail marker at that location that is specific to you. Every Ranger has a different symbol (at least I've not found two that are the same yet). You can Scout Marker, Look Marker to see it. (You will need a fellow Ranger with at least 225 Scouting to teach this to you via Scout Read Learn/Teach)

Using a Personal Trail Marker

Now you can go off galivanting about Elanthia -- just take your new pet rock with you. When you want to return to your trail head:

Step 1: Get the trail marker rock

Step 2: Study the rock

>study rock

You study your trail marker rock, refreshing your memory with the location of your trail marker.

Step 3: Scout rock to run the trail

>scout rock

You set off into the wilds, following the direction on your rock...

Notes:

• You cannot have more than one trail marker rock active; as soon as you mark another rock, that rock becomes your new active trail marker rock.
• Having a new trail marker rock does not erase the previous PTM, but only the most recent PTM will work. If you've already put a PTM in a room and you'd like to put down another PTM in the same room, you'll have to KICK MARKER to erase your previous PTM first.
• The room must be at least Ranger Bonus Neutral for you to put down a PTM. And you must be in at least a Ranger Bonus Neutral room to Scout Rock to get to the PTM.
• Certain rooms just do not allow you to put a PTM down, such as the entrance to Crossing Ranger Guild and the room south of it (but the area behind the doors is fine). I had no trouble putting PTMs down in areas like genies or onyx gargoyles.
• Running a PTM trains Scouting and Perception just like any normal trail
• At 362 Scouting skill, mark rock lasted for 55 minutes.
• Testing PTMs in Zoluren shows that length of time to run a PTM depends on the room that you start "Scout Rock", not where the marker room is. Default time was 52 sec @362 Scouting Skill. Certain rooms like west of Empath Infirmary, divorce tent in Dirge, and abandoned mine make the PTM take 82 sec to complete. Running a PTM from abandoned mine in a group with 2 extra people took 2.5 minutes (approx. double the time). Also, I was unable to cross the Segoltha River via PTM.

Additional actions include:

• COVER their marker to make it more difficult for another Ranger to find.
• ARRANGE their marker to make it a little easier for another Ranger to find.
• TURN their marker to make it very easy for another Ranger to find.
• KICK their marker to get rid of the marker
• LOOK and READ their marker to see some information about it (read information includes how long your trailmarker will remain usable)
• STUDY gives normal Study comments
• A Ranger who happens to find another Ranger's marker via SCOUT can:
• LOOK and READ to see what it looks like and who made it
• GO or SNEAK to follow the marker back to the Ranger who made it (albeit with the same distance checks that have always been in place)

Additional Information from Official Discord

Posted by Lyneya 12/2/2021 at 1:00 PM in #ranger:

Crossposting the sharing of information.. from the F2P channel: @Solaes anyone know how to cover or arrange a personal trailmarker? when i try, it says "What are you going to cover the trail marker with?" and whatever I use doesn't seem to work

Lyneya — Today at 1:00 PM You need something from a specific set of items. What are you trying to use to cover it? Branch, flower, grass, leaf, moss, root, rose, sage, stick, limb, twig, vine, weed, corn will all work for COVER.

Solaes — Today at 2:06 PM btw, it seems like only rocks can be used for ARRANGE MARKER

Related Forum Post

http://forums.play.net/forums/13/124/973/view/304

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