No problem and don't take offense about my other replies.
I love the game but not afraid to speak my mind.
Anyway I noticed you like playing Rangers or druids is there a reason for that? I remember you mentioned you like to role-play most of your NPC's in every RPG.
I don't mind and most here know you speak your mind
This will be long 'cause I am wordy and tend to give details.
I tend to prefer Rangers over Druid because the Ranger is more melee focused and isn't as restricted by alignment. I always felt I couldn't play a druid properly since I always veer into the good choices. Last time I really got into a druid was the two POE games and mainly because you could turn into a werewolf. In POE I played through both games once as a druid and once as a ranger.
I like them for similar reasons - nature based and animal companions with a nice mix of utility spells.
My favorite class, when I can do it, is a Ranger/Rogue mix … and toss in shapeshifting if possible, especially werewolf. Skyrim let me do that and part of the reason I am still playing it after 10 years. Both of my main Skyrim characters are werewolf ranger/rogues although one is more Ranger and the other is more rogue with added magic.
I didn't go Ranger in WOTR mainly because I was impatient and didn't want to wait 4 levels to get my animal companion
Plus they offer a very good alternative - the Sacred Huntsman which has fantastic synergy with the Rogue.
I take 4 levels of Knife Master Rogue with 16 levels of Sacred Huntsman. This gives me:
- 4x back stab (2 from rogue levels, 1 from accomplished sneak attacker feat, one from precise shot feat) where 3 of those are 3d8 damage (due to Knife master using 1d8 dice for backstab with daggers) + 1d6 for precise shot.
- Weapon Finesse and Finesse Training for Daggers (which lets me use my Dex bonus instead of strength for damage and attack) from the rogue class
- Mugger background adds weapon proficiency for daggers but if you already have that proficiency then instead it gives you a +1 to attack with them. It also adds trickery (or maybe stealth, forget right now) and persuasion but since I already have those skills it gives me +1 skill to them instead. All the backgrounds work like that. So this gives me +1 to trickery, +1 persuasion, and another +1 to dagger attacks. The mugger BG also works perfect for the lore of my character who grew up on the streets as an Orphan.
- Take weapon specialization for another +1 on dagger attacks … these all start to add up.
- Uncanny dodge and evasion (harder to hit) from Rogue
- Fast Stealth (rogue talent) which means I can be in stealth with no movement penalty. This means I can cast Expeditious Retreat (from SH class) and run around maps/dungeons at high speed scouting and removing traps while in-stealth which is super useful.
- All skills open and lots of points. SH allows all the skills as "known" skills and SH and rogue give you extra skill points … along with the Mugger background, as mentioned above, I get added bonuses to key skills. With moderate INT that means each level I can invest in mobility, stealth, trickery, persuasion, and perception. A nice diverse set of skills to scout areas, pass skill checks for mobility, stealth and backstabs, find and disarm traps and open locks, and very good at persuasion based skill checks. Also the rogue and inquisitor have innate feats that nicely boost perception, initiative score, and persuasion. Toss in a Tiefling or Dhampir race and also adds more synergy as they can get racial bonuses to persuasion and stealth.
- Team work feats that I only need myself as an Inquisitor base class and as a SH subclass I share those all automatically with my animal companion (wolf of course).
Taking all the above I now have a decent melee character with some nice damage who works very well when fighting alongside his wolf buddy. While wearing light armor magic buffs, dodge, evasion, and the like means he isn't hit too often. He can scout out areas quickly while still in stealth, remove traps, find secret things (rogue adds trap finding which adds to perception and Inquisitor adds points to perception as a class feat), pick locks, pass various skill checks, and highly persuasive in dialogue … and has a wolf companion and some great spells. Overall a really well rounded and diverse character build.
For points dexterity is main, followed by wisdom (16 max). Leftover points into Charisma if I want more talking options or intellect if I want more skill options. Also what fits the lore of the character best.
I see the Sacred Huntsman as really a more diverse Ranger and hence lean towards it a lot. I usually take Desna or Gozreh as my deity, at least in the Pathfinder games.
While rambling I will explain why Lobo, my main melee, I decided to go Warpriest versus a Ranger or SH/Rogue build (which I am doing with my Dhampir, and Wulver is doing a Sorcerer/Rogue mix as a Tiefling).
Lobo is very primal and animalistic kind of melee character. He likes to get in your face in combat and finds combat to be visceral or instinctual. He also worships Fenris Wolf (Gozreh in this world) who in my lore is more a CN deity of nature and winter, and Lord of all Wolves.
So Feral Champion of Gozreh means Lobo fights with natural claws that grow our of his hands, which are fast and no need for two-weapon fighting feats. High coolness factor as well which is why in his case I can give up having an animal companion - he is already part wolf and in my head he can communicate with animals as well. Plus he goes Azatic so he does get a dragon companion which is cool
Azata also fits his very CG temperament.
His skills are athletics, mobility, nature and religion (every other level due to how INT skill bonus works). He took the background of the warrior of the Linnorm (sp?) Kings. Mainly because of the cold resistance as he is a follower of Fenris and all his followers have innate cold resistance - closest I could get in this game. He also got the mobility skill from it.
In addition he can shape change later on into a wolf! This works great with his following Fenris, his claws, and his general wolf-predator like personality. With Mythic shapeshifting this change becomes more powerful and he can do it as often as he wants, no limited per day uses.
He is decent at melee and he gets a lot of great buffs and healing (and I really like to be able to heal, even if only a little, in games). His main points go into strength, constitution, and enough wisdom to cast up to level 6 spells. Think I put his INT at 12.
For feats I go for lore stuff mainly - toughness, endurance, shapeshifting enhancement, claw weapon focus, and some other things.
Lastly there is a reason I also prefer these builds, in most any group/party game, and that is because I really dislike being in the back of the party! Otherwise I would play a caster or cleric or focus on ranged damage versus melee.
I like being the one up front, leading and protecting everyone else, or working along side another tank. I want to be the one scouting, doing skill checks, talking, picking locks, leading the charge. So I tend to like versatile, jack of all trade, melee style fighters - preferably with an animal companion and some magic around healing and buffs.
I hope this wall of text also explains why I enjoy making my own characters so much more than playing a pre-defined character and why I have a hard time even playing a game that decides the character - like Tomb Raider or Witcher.
I put a lot of time, research, and effort into making my characters and doing that really builds an immersive bond with the character when I play - as I have a lot of lore, history, and personality with them and by the time I start to play I have already spent hours, days, even weeks, creating them in my head.
If the character is pre-defined I can't do any of that. Movies and books I don't care as then I am just an external viewer watching the story. But I like games so that I can be right there as part of the story versus just being a voyeur watching from the back seat.
At least half my fun in gaming is the escape into another world where I play myself as someone in another role (like who would I want to be if I found myself in this world? Is the question I ask when first starting to make a character) and where I get to decide and make who that someone else is. The more freedom I have the better … usually. I also require a good story, interesting companions, fun game mechanics, etc. In rare cases I might bond well enough with a pre-defined character I can enjoy playing the game at least once (Mass Effect was like this but it also had some limited freedom on who Shepherd was and how you play him).
Heh well sorry for the long reply Couch
Hopefully that answers the question though.
TL;DR - Rangers are versatile, melee capable, leaders of the party who can scout, do magic, are nature based, and have animal companions. Toss in some rogue and they can also handle traps, locks, and some back-stabs. 
