I'm a little puzzled by some of the arguments about the supposed lack of variety in the ranger endgame weapons. We're talking about a class that actually strives to attain a weapon that is as accurate as possible, as damaging as possible, and as fast shooting as possible. Why would we want any unnecessary "tricks" for the sake of variety when we can melt almost every boss in seconds with the SDMG and Crystal Bullets? If one desires variety one should try the other classes. The Ranger class has already achieved perfection.
Performance doesn't always completely control people's preferences (unless it is blatantly over-powered). While I agree that the Ranger, in terms of capability, are on perfect grounds, how they achieve that aesthetically hasn't improved that much in comparison to the other classes over the 1.3 update. Phantasm I believe is the only weapon that improves how people look at the class in that manner.
The S.D.M.G, with the tier it is at, is supposedly meant to be a signature weapon of the class. And yet, it literally is just a better Minishark. When people reach further tiers into the game, they expect a greater scale of weaponry. Which is not what the S.D.M.G achieves; we already have that kind of stuff straight after smashing your first orb/heart (getting the Gun merchant and buying the Minishark). There are concepts out there to broaden out the class, particularly if you take what firearms we have in real life and incorporate them into Terraria.
Take the M134 Minigun as an example. 2000-6000 bullets a minute, yet very difficult to wield and use by a single individual unsupported by vehicles or tri-pods. Historically, in terms of gaming, it also requires a charge up. So, you can make a proper Minigun in Terraria that is an absolute powerhouse with damage and speed, but causes the slow debuff while using it and requires charge-up time to reach its pinnacle (we have the Laser Machinegun/Blaster cannon, so it can be done and allegedly it's simple to make debuffs happen in that way). So, you have a weapon with almighty DPS, but at a severe cost of mobility and alpha damage.
But that's just the nature of a Ranger class. The Ranger is not about having a variety of weapons that fulfill different roles
A little odd, as you say very soon after:
The variety instead comes in the form of bullets - we have debuffing, homing, piercing, and single-target high DPS bullets.
It's a bit of a shame that there weren't much additions with ammunition, especially in the rocket and arrow department. There are the new range of dart weaponry and their unique effects, but that range seems to quickly get rejected after the mechanical bosses, right after the point it would be at its most interesting.
But also, I find it a bit odd that you think it's the Ranger's nature to not have variety, just because they supposedly don't have as much in comparison. While it usually aims to achieve straight-out DPS, that can be achieved in many different ways. Your words would have much more validity if the rocket sub-class did not exist.
It's not just the Ranger that doesn't
need a variety of weapons out in combat, either. For example, I can stick with a Water Bolt or Space Gun for Pre-HM mages, Golden Shower or the Crystal staff later. And then, end-game ish, it's not like you have to use other weapons if you stick to a Razorpine. I can stick with things like the Paladin Hammer alone for Melee, too. And, well, Summoning is in an odd position where it usually comes down to using the same minion for whatever your maximum count is.
It's also not like the Ranger remains simple throughout the stages of the game. You start off with simple bows, then move on to bullet weaponry, then move on to explore different variations of bullet weaponry (Minishark rapid-fire, Phoenix Blaster trigger-discipline, Musket slow but powerful, Boomstick for multi-shot) as well as bows that act a little odd (Hellwing bow, Bee's Knees). Not to mention that available ammunition transforms your capabilities a lot the instance you enter hard-mode. Trouble with lack of bullet knock-back? Well, now you can wreck with explosive bullets (usually the first thing I get entering HM). And, of course, we eventually reach the Rocket sub-class. Things like the Grenade launcher and Proximity mine launcher are often overlooked, because of the lack of need for hiding from your targets at that stage, but it's still something different.
To clarify, I think Ranger's variation is in a good spot. Lacking a little in end-game, with the main offender being the S.D.M.G, and there is potential to add much more (with the example above).
time to charge, and you need to constantly have a high-level mana input on hand, which either limits inventory space, mobility or the weapon to an invasion-destroyer.
.