Well, my thought about adding an extra white hit option was more about providing options to customize my shot, than it was strictly about increasing dps. Same thing could be accomplished by giving each of the directional shots a different buff, then letting the ranger decide which ones to use before the combo is released.
I can't remember the last time I switched to sword and shield... I think it was when I got fed up with getting killed by the stone soldiers in the Refuge of the Apostate.
But hey, the server merge is over, and all I wanna do is get back on my ranger and start playing again. Nothing will be changing anyway, but even with the limitations, ranger is still my favourite class in AoC!