D&D 5E Ranger spell selection

[Li Shenron]

Rangers are historically "divine" casters, that know everything on the list. Wizards/sorcerers are limited by spells known. There's no particularly compelling reason why their closest analogue, the Paladin, basically gets more bonus spells always prepared just from their oath than the ranger knows IN TOTAL.

I mean, other than the fact that someone grossly overclocked the paladin class.

I say give them know ranger spells automatically. Then ALSO give them a number of wizard spells known equal to the spells they would have previously got. This would mirror 1st edition rangers knowing a small number of magic user spells. It also makes the ranger more self-sufficient which makes sense as someone often stationed out in the wilds away from allies.

(And then also nerf paladins. But that's another thread.)

I'd do the opposite. I think the game would work better if every spellcaster had a fixed number of known spells per level but could learn more from scrolls like a Wizard, or from other sources (ad-hoc training, quest rewards etc). The baseline would be very safe, and the DM could always grant more spells in a controlled way and tied to the narrative.