(no subject)

Currently I feel that Ranger is the best class in Pathfinder for new players or people with no particular idea of what they want to play. No matter what the group winds up doing you'll wind up having something useful to contribute which is more engaging than healing people and there's something in there for everyone. It's impossible to make a poor racial choice - elves, dwarves, gnomes, half-elves, halflings, half-orcs, and humans all have traits that would make them good rangers.

Want your character to talk to the animals and have a cool animal companion, without having to figure out spellcasting? (I figure this would make the class especially fun for new players - what kid doesn't want a wolf/fox/snow leopard/other Sierra Club poster critter tagging along with their character?) Want to be involved in combat, but with clearer options than fighters get, without the barbarian's limitation of only getting their cool feats while raging, without being somewhat more vulnerable in melee like a rogue, and still have enough skill points to actually be very useful outside combat? Want to be unusually badass in some places or against some opponents, without a paladin's code or required high charisma? Ranger does all that.

I've also been looking at the rules for witch, which is a neat class - sort of a flavorful alternative to bard, and would work really well for half-elves given the +2 any trait bonus and free skill focus, or for elves given their Int bonus and the bonus to overcoming spell resistance. And at arcane archer, which seems like a good prestige class for a half-elf given the multiple favored classes.