I like that the Alpha 3 ranger gets more options for his combat styles. That's very nice. I appreciate that.
What I'm not too keen on is that rangers are still effectively only two types of characters: ranged fighters or two-weapon fighters. Why not a sword-and-board combat style? Or a throwing weapon style? Even a two-handed weapon style?
Sorcerers, for example, got options that vastly expand their repertoire. Why limit rangers to only two options? Like the sorcerer, it could be noted that most rangers, by default, are assumed to have the TWF or ranged weapons combat styles, but I don't see why they should all be limited to those options.
Seconded. I LOVE the new ranger. More options for combat styles would make a great class even better.
I planned to create several Specialization-List for rangers as a form of path selection (but haven't come to that yet).
What I would like to see is a Scout, Stalker, and Beastmaster path, which grant abilities that hepl the ranger at scouting, stalking their prey, and to boost the power of their animal companions.