this topic was mentioned in the ranger sticky, and I made a separate topic for this in hopes that non rangers will read it too!
If your server is anything like leviathan, you're seeing more people pick up the bow and gun and level ranger seriously... In particular over the past 3 months. Why? I think its that ranger is suited well for low man strats, ans also for some beginning strats that are safer. In addition, omen added some serious oompf to our punch.
That all being said, most buffers these days are only used to working with standard melee setups. This means they're not getting the most out of their Rangers. But really, what are the differences when buffing for Rangers and corsairs vs typical close range melees? Let's run them down by job.
WHM- a whm will typically give boost DEX or boost STR to melees. 99 times out of 100 a ranger benefits the most from boostAGI. The only exception is a RMEA BOW RANGER using jishnus radiance, which DEX is the primary modifier, AND they have enough ranged accuracy to live without the boost AGI.
RDM- a rdm is used to a haste 2 cycle. They need to give the rangers and shooting corsairs Flurry 2. Always ask the cor if they are shooting or meleeing, in cp or similar level content they have that option. By the way... /rdm gets flurry 1, I'm looking at you whms who sub rdm and geos!
GEO- their buffs for rangers are very dependent on the weaponskills being used. In a Trueflight scenario, Acumen is monstrous and a huge benefit. For other weapon skills, your Rangers will prefer Fury. It is vital for the GEO to be involved before the battles begin so they know what direction to take the Buffs and debuffs.
BRD- I've done multiple test runs with a maxed out brd (4 song, marsyas,carn,5/5 +3af). If you're Rangers are sporting RMEA weapons, they'll never need a Prelude outside of content level 140 or higher. I tested both of these song and food combos - honor march, 2 minuets, 1 prelude and meat (soy ramen+1) versus honor march, 3 minuets and sublime sushi. The latter ALWAYS gave me better accuracy and dps.
COR- our fellow Shooters. Nothing boosts a Rangers damage like a Corsair end of story. The default rolls will be chaos and Samurai, swapping out the chaos for a Wizards roll when using Trueflight. We are built for one thing and that is weapon skill damage. A solid samurais roll makes that so much easier that it should always be on in any situation. Of course there should never be giving a ranger any kind of accuracy or snapshot rolls. Between our gifts and gear options, there is no reason any Ranger out there cannot cap snapshot on their own and should show up with enough ranged accuracy that they're only getting buffed for power.
*addition- as was brought up below, Allies's Roll is a GREAT substitute for Chaos roll when attack is already capped (usually, not always, this means a setup involving an Idris GEO and a really decked BRD). Boosting skillchain damage at such a high percentage really helps a RNG party, especially because Fomalhaut RNGs spamming Last Stand will naturally make Light/Radiance, and multiple bow wielders using Jishnu's Radiance will also naturally make Light(Radiance if Fail-Not is involved and has Aftermath from Apex Arrow active).
SCH- yes Scholars have a great role they can play in a Ranger party. Using their tools of hate management such as animus mineo, they can help keep those rangers alive and dealing damage. Also, giving a ranger Aurorastorm in a Trueflight setup will immediately add 10 to 15% damage. Assuming of course the ranger has properly set up to equip the hachyrin no obi when they receive storms. While not as effective, Firestorm does Boost Wildfire as well.
Tanks - it is now safely assumed the decoys shot only works when your tank or the target of the decoy is in the same party, not Alliance, as the Ranger. This seriously complicates things in Alliance setups. One way around this is to have a thief use collaborator or accomplice to steal a Rangers hate and then trick attack the tank. Another note 4 tanks is to get used to tanking so that the Ranger can trick attack you rather than tanking on the back side of your mob. It's very common these days for tanks to default to aim the face of the enemy away from the main party. And often this is the right choice, but it does complicate matters when tanking with a ranger.