Just started playing the game, enjoying it a lot so far.

 

I made a ranger + a tanky bear. Probably because of my WoW hunter background

 

The main reason was me thinking that having a tank is good. Now a few hours into the game I got a tank companion and that made me think. Perhaps I should have gone for a full dps build with a dps pet. Or perhaps another dps class.

 

Or is it better to have multiple tanks in a party?

It is useful, but not essential, to have two tanks in the party. That said, your animal companion is going to have limited tanking ability, so having somebody to back your bear up is always a good idea.

My primary game is a wood elf Ranger with a Bear on hard.  I think I am at the end of Act 2, level 9 party.  Eder is my primary tank, I use Pallegina too.  The Bear can tank but is no where near as good as either of them, and I have Pallegina using a Great Sword.

 

All that said, the character seems to work fine.  I think Rangers probably need a buff but they are definitely playable and regardless of which pet you take, you can be successful.  

It is useful, but not essential, to have two tanks in the party. That said, your animal companion is going to have limited tanking ability, so having somebody to back your bear up is always a good idea.

Back up the bear with a cipher - painblocked bear! Yeah!!

Pfff, don't obsess about it. If you're on normal you'll have no trouble just going with your heart. If you're on hard you don't need your characters to be built perfectly to get through.

I think Ranger with anything is the wrong choice until they fix it!

I think Ranger with anything is the wrong choice until they fix it!

 

It's decent insofar as it has ridiculous accuracy and can get a lot of mileage out of DoT, but yeah, it needs buffs.

I disagree, the level 9 binding roots is great for abuse. I also prefer the Antelopes with the higher amount of deflection, this coupled with the Defensive Bond worked wonders for me.