Had some fun with this in Poe1. Is this a viable option in Deadfire? Anyone from the beta has got experience with this?

It's viable, Ranger has a subclass - Stalker
Bonus: The stalker and their companion gain bonus Deflection and Armor Rating when within 4m of each other.
Penalty: The stalker and their companion suffer Bonded Grief when they are more than 7m from each other.

If you want to be "traditional" and use a pair of your favorite one-handed weapons, this also works well for Ranger because Wounding Shot is a full attack that does not require a ranged weapon. Hopefully this is still true when the game launches; we have yet to see what higher-level abilities bring for Rangers.