Here's just an 'off the top of my head' thought on the subject...
If you want to even things out more for the ranged characters when compared to the melee characters, you could alter Swift Strike so that it would affect either melee or ranged attack (but not both, for that, you would have to purchase the ability multiple times). Perhaps simply calling it Swift Action, or something to that effect would work. This would not eliminate the '1 action to load, 1 action to fire' system, though (as that sort of speed should be the province of the Archer, in my opinion).
For the Archer, then, you could alter the Swift Shot ability so that it is only purchased once, but, allows for the Archer to notch an arrow and fire, all in one fluid motion (thus accounting for the rapid shots of Legolas). This would, in the end, make the ranged character just as viable as the melee character, in terms of actions, but would still necessitate the acquisition of the Archer elite order, as well as the altered Swift Shot ability.
Like I said, though, this is just an 'off the top of my head' solution, so I don't really know how feasible, in game terms, it would be. Still, run with it if you'd like.
Greg
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