Why rangers don't suck

[koros]

Rangers are the redheaded step child of p99, as they were in live during Kunark. But they really get a bad and undeserved rap.

Perhaps some of it has to do with rangers always gearing for str and neglecting AC/hp, but a ranger tank will shine in many groups.

In any group where cleric mana isn't an issue, a ranger tank is probably the single best choice, aggro is never an issue, and dps is superior to a paladin or sk.

Woodsman Staff is cheap as shit, allows a ranger to do top notch dps, and still retain aggro much better than a warrior who's often forced to use lower dps weapons and rely on procs. If outdoors wolf form also provides a substantial atk boost, while harmony is amazing for breaking camps.

Ranger is also a top notch CC class if playing a support role, 2-3 mob pulls without an enc aren't an issue if a ranger just root parks, and they can take some hits to boot.

Spread among a group of 6, the rangers xp penalty is like 8% more xp than a war. Considering that a cleric who just casts CHs every now and then isn't going to run oom healing a 3k+ hp ranger very often, they can easily make up for the xp difference vs a war by allowing dps to constantly go full bore.

Thoughts? I'm expecting a lot of ranger hate regardless.