1. No terrain based ability loss, expertise dictates base set.
Control weather, scrolls, bearcharge...these can be lost by hometerrain or expertise. It is also advantageous to overlap the losses so that you lose the same ability for hometerrain and expertise. I think this makes some builds common and others rare. I want to simplify character design so players know what their ranger will have more easily and their is no combo with the appearance of a higher penalty. The terrain becomes only an addition. Terrain changes because of...

2. Multiple terrains
Rangers get a new counter, exp by terrain type. This allows them to learn the abilities of additional terrains. By hero a ranger would be expected to have two terrains. Additional terrains would require some immtervention. But it could be common for a 400 hour char to have 3 or 4 terrains.

An immediate concern would be a ranger using wanderlust to have hometerrain effectiveness with multiple skills, but this is handled by...

3. Merging survivalist and explorer
With multiple terrains every ranger is more of an explorer. Looking at explorer skills they sound very much like survivalist skills. Explorer skills get merged into survivalist with the exception of #4... And other expertises remain on the same level ability-wise through #5...

4. Wanderlust
Every ranger gets a new, higher level, type of wanderlust. It is a tiring ability that must be invoked, but allows a ranger to use any terrain as if it were hometerrain. Civilized gets less of a benefit, but still some. Invoking it while not fighting will negate penalties from being in a civilized place and can be used for a long duration.


5. A few new skills

Beastmaster
Falcon call - This allows the beastmaster to call a falcon. The ranger can have the falcon do two things, scout and swoop. Scouting sends the falcon into the air and it looks at the surrounding areas. Initially the info is vague, but as level and skill rises, the falcon gives better information. Swoop causes the falcon to dive and hit the ranger's foe, doing moderate damage with affects like feint, disarm and distraction. The falcon is not a tanking mob and will fly away if it takes any damage. There is no empathy penalty as with bears.

Savage
Yank - A quick savage can yank at a foe's apparel causing minor affects like strength and dex loss. Fragile items can be broken through this and fall into the foe's inventory.

Toss - A strong savage can grab a foe and toss him. If fighting a group they can tossed into their companions. A toss can also send someone out of a room.

Hunter
Herd - A hunter can try to force a foe to flee in a certain direction. This only works in rooms with multiple exits.

Animists get nothing because of multiple terrains and spirit allies.

Having been in on the original revamp, it was originally set up so that "forester survivalist" is identical (or almost identical) to the the way the original ranger functioned. As far as I know, this remains the case, and anything other than "forester survivalist" is a variant. I suspect forester and survivalist are unlikely to be changed to make that not the case.

Without commenting on any of these ideas, I'd hazard a guess that rangers are not up this kind of thing anytime soon. There are several classes that currently offer far less diversity than the ranger class, and these would be higher priority items for reassessment.

That revamp happened a long time ago. I thought "forester survivalist" was only necessary to grandfather in existing rangers. But, I don't think this idea changes that combo very much at all.

By suggesting a revamp that relies mostly on moving existing things around I'm trying to fix what I think are the flaws in the class with as little work as possible. I know it's unlikely to happen, but I like throwing ideas out there.

I thought "forester survivalist" was only necessary to grandfather in existing rangers.

I don't think it was strictly necessary. At the time, there was a lament at how the thief revamp basically eliminated the old-school thief, and the playstyle that went along with it. The motive was to not make the same mistake with ranger class. Along those lines, I suspect any change that would substantially alter survivalist and/or forester wouldn't be on the table.

I like the multiple terrains idea, and it makes sense given low playerbase numbers.

Expertise-wise, I have posted numerous times on beastmaster skills that
seem and feel broken (pretty much everything besides wasps and maybe predator stance), others have posted on hunters etc. I think that there is a lot of overlap and old-code baggage that can simply be removed/improved and make the class a lot better for the current climate.