We've often thought the Ranger was the only class that doesn't really bring anything different to a raid or group; they do comparatively moderate to low DPS depending on the target, they don't shine with heals or spell damage, they don't debuff and they don't have any special item or attack that helps to define the class. We have a Ranger but only because we have made a point of including at least one of every class in our guild/raid.
In general, the only benefit to using a ranger is they have ranged DPS, which isn't exclusive to their own class and, what's worse, it's halved damage on rooted targets (which is a huge number of encounters).
Their buffs, mostly, don't stack with other classes. The only buff they can use is the Empowering Water line. On paper, this seems to be a nice group buff but in parse tests it has a tiny impact (some classes increase their minimum damage from 1 to 2... and after multiple tests across different classes, it was impossible to determine any benefit)
I thought a thread to put forward ideas to make the class step up to the plate would be a nice idea; I don't think they need to be buffed, so to speak; for what they are, they do fine at but they just don't add anything that another class cannot do (and they're the only class like this, in my opinion). So to kick it off, I have my own idea.
No class can AOE debuff. All the debuff classes are useful against single targets (so most bosses) but your enchanter and shaman are generally buff bots until you get to a boss (and the shaman isn't much more use there unless the target is slowable). It's not practical to debuff single targets when pulling a larger group of mobs (and any adds in boss encounters tend to not be debuffed).
Not that trash tends to require debuffing most of the time, but I thought it'd be neat to be able to lay down debuffs on groups of mobs, both in boss encounters and general trash. It'd be useful particularly when breaking into a new tier and would make farming faster, as well as allowing the Ranger to provide a tangible benefit to boss encounters that include adds.
I was thinking the Ranger could have a line of Trap spells. These would be AOE and would remain in place for a short period of time. Any mob entering the AOE would be debuffed (subject to resist checks of course). The spells could be in maybe two to three lines, each designed to debuff in different ways but all using the same re-use timer, so you'd need to decide which to use depending on your raid/group setup or targets. Or, just one of the suggestions below could be used, rather than all three.
They wouldn't be any better than existing single target debuffs, so they won't stack, but will work on any mobs that haven't been debuffed already
Examples (the stats are arbitrary, I'm not proposing the balance but just the general idea):
Stalker's Savage Trap Rk. I-III
PB AOE: 50
Duration: 30 seconds (Debuff duration 1 minute)
Re-use: 1 minute
Resist: Magic (-50 to -250 RK. III)
Effect: Reduces AC by 30-100, Increases melee vulnerability by 20-40%
Recourse: 10-30% chance to proc a bleed DOT on target
Nature's Strike Trap Rk. I-III
PB AOE: 50
Duration: 30 seconds
Re-use: 1 minute (Debuff duration 1 minute)
Resist: Fire (-50 to -250)
Effect: Reduces Fire and Cold resistances by 15-50, increases spell damage by 20-40%
Recourse: 10-30% chance to proc mana drain on target
Strider's Enfeeblement Trap RK. I-III
PB AOE: 50
Duration: 15 seconds (Debuff duration 45 seconds)
Re-use: 1.5 minutes
Resist: Cold (-50-250)
Effect: Reduces ATK by 100, AC by 50-150, increases spell damage by 10-30%, increases melee vulnerability by 10-30%
Recourse: 10-30% chance to proc reverse damage shield on target that heals anyone hitting them
Any thoughts or ideas welcome.