I don't think that Rangers should have Backflip or a Backflip-like skill. I have mastered both Ranger and Ninja.
So, the root of Ranger is Range. Ranger is a bow class. A bow is a ranged weapon. Ranger is meant to do damage far away from combat. Thus, a true Ranger stays in a difficult-to-reach-quickly spot and rains down damage from above. Sometimes lag makes it difficult to snipe, but nonetheless, Ranger is meant to be far away from their target, and if they have partners, those are the ones who do the melee fighting. The Ranger provides the support.
So often, I see Rangers running in with their melee friends, standing only like 6 blocks away from the action, and shooting arrow after arrow. Yeah, it's effective for sure. An arrow does a lot of damage when it comes from a Ranger, especially if imbued with somthing. But it is not the way the class is meant to be used! Again, Ranger = Range. Wierdly, I think people forget that sometimes. In the wild, at Temple, everywhere, I see most Rangers not up high on a distant hill sniping away, but rather standing 6 blocks away from their target. Even at PvP tournaments, where sniping spots are provided on those columns, the Rangers stand a few blocks away from the fray and shoot.
Well, if you're a Ranger like that, you're not using the class the right way. Ranger is meant to not be effective in close combat. If your friends are keeping them occupied and you're shooting them while they aren't focused at you, you bypass that intended drawback. You are not meant to be a close combat class as a Ranger. So, when that Dreadknight or whoever in the group realizes you're doing a ton of damage even though you're close by, he (or she) also realizes that you're an easy target. And when that guy runs at you because you think you're a melee class, you are going to get killed. It is supposed to end that way for a Ranger trying to do melee combat.
If you're intelligent and care about your virtual life at all, you do what the Ranger is meant to do and stand several blocks away on high ground, if it is available, and cause as much damage as you can from there. That is what Ranger is meant for. It is a bow class. It is meant to shoot from a range greater than 6 blocks -_-
Giving Ranger Backflip or a Backflip-like skill only encourages them to run into melee fights. If they were actually difficult to kill in a melee fight, the class would be so OP. PoisonArrow can do a lot of damage. Right now, if you're being shot by a Ranger pretending to be a melee class and you are, in fact, a melee class, you can butcher him (or her) because that is his (or her) weakness. In multiplayer, it can be difficult to attack from a range due to lag, but that is still what they are meant to do. If a Ranger had Backflip or a Backflip-like skill, they could play melee and still get away with a major head start on their enemy.
You might say "Well, I don't pretend to be melee. I stand on a hill and snipe when I'm supposed to. But then when a guy comes charging at me, I don't have any way to get away in time. That's why I want Backflip or a Backflip-like skill for Ranger!"
So, if that's what you're thinking, let me get this straight... You're standing far away from the fight, probably on high ground if it is available and possibly even behind a battlement, and when the guy who is 20 or 30 blocks away from you comes running at you and has to possibly scale a hill and get over a battlement, you don't have an oppurtunity to get away?
If he's running at you, you don't stand there until the last second continuously shooting arrows at him. Maybe he'll die before he gets to you, but most of the time, especially if he is a warrior class or a fast class like Ninja, he will get to you well before that. If you wait till he's like five blocks away, you only have five blocks of distance between you when you're running, and chances are you'll only lose ground. You might get to go back and shoot later, but only after resupplying because you got slaughtered.
If you turn and run when he's coming at you but still far away, you do a lot less damage to him, but you're being intelligent and not getting butchered. You make a clean getaway, and when he gives up chasing you, you can go back and keep shooting again without having had to go back and resupply because you got butchered and lost all your things. You might call it cowardice. You might even call standing on a hill 30 blocks away from the battle cowardice. If you're a melee class hiding from a fight you might actually do well in, then that's cowardice. But if you're a Ranger, that is how the class is meant to be played. You do the smartest damage when you are well away from the action. For a Ranger, being "brave" and running into the fray or standing your ground until the last second isn't bravery at all. It is stupidity, and a really easy way to get yourself killed.
The only reason a Ranger would need Backflip or a Backflip-like skill would be if that Ranger was not playing the class right. Ninja has Backflip because it is meant to be agile and fast and to get into a fight, do a lot of melee damage, and get out relatively unscathed. Granted, it does a pretty bad job with that currently and needs a bit of a buff, but that's a different topic entirely. Basically, giving Ranger Backflip only encourages misuse of the class.
Pardon the excessive length, please.