Single-classed Rangers are not too useful in IWD. There aren't many places for you to use that Charm Animal ability, the Ranger can't stealth while wearing decent armor, meaning you have to choose between the ability or being able to survive combat (or you can add/remove the armor depending on what you want to do, but that's tedious). Furthermore, the Ranger only gets low-level Druid spells (not very useful late in the game, which is where you'll get them), and can't grandmaster in a weapon. Some argue, however, that the dual-wield makes up for this... I think the combat bonuses of Grand-mastery are far more useful myself, though.
I have found one good use for a Ranger, though... I'm thinking about making an all-stealth party, which would look something like:
Ranger
Thief
Fighter/Thief
Mage/Thief
Cleric/Thief
They might be kindof fun, since every encounter will begin on their terms.
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