[williestargell]

The answer to these questions is always that it boils down to personal preference. These two have a larger gap between their intended uses than alot of class comparisons. One is primarily a tank and secondarily a healer, the other is melee DPS plus utility. Which combo are you looking for.

Both rangers and paladins get a bad rap due to the hybrid exp penalty but they are both good classes. The hybrid penalty goes away for both in velious so both will be more popular in groups.

People that think Paladins suck just don't "like" what paladins have to offer. Paladins are THE BEST tank for a group. They are good off-tanks on raids, they are good raid main tanks for mobs that don't require a warrior disc to tank. They are average healers at high level. Their DPS is practically non-existant. Paladins don't get anything earth-shakingly new in Velious but the things they have now will be more appreciated.

Rangers have pretty good dps. Their spells add more dps than they are given credit for, especially if they equip a 2hander. They can solo better than most other melee classes. They can tank in a group in a pinch. They get discs in velious that are very valuable. Bow disc that will give great burst dps. Weaponshield that is used alot.