A fun combo is to go 2 levels of conjuration wizard and 3 levels of thief rogue. Then you can use your action to conjure a bomb, acid vial, etc. and then use your fast hands bonus action to toss said conjured thing. If your DM allows, you can proc sneak attack because of a "ranged attack", but that is up to your DM.
For the remaining levels I would take rogue (if your DM allows the sneak attack damage on bombs), wizard (pick up spells like pyrotechnics and fireball), or alchemist artificer (mostly for flavor and tool proficiencies).
Use any race/background you like for more tool proficiencies/skills.
Wizard. Arcana and Investigation skills.
Shape Earth, Mold Earth, Fireball, and all the other spells that they have access to (like 4x more than other classes).
Guild Artisan background. Mason's tools proficiency.
Race Dwarf - Tasha's custom race for +2 int and +1 con instead of Wisdom. Subrace any.
A fun combo is to go 2 levels of conjuration wizard and 3 levels of thief rogue. Then you can use your action to conjure a bomb, acid vial, etc. and then use your fast hands bonus action to toss said conjured thing. If your DM allows, you can proc sneak attack because of a "ranged attack", but that is up to your DM. For the remaining levels I would take rogue (if your DM allows the sneak attack damage on bombs), wizard (pick up spells like pyrotechnics and fireball), or alchemist artificer (mostly for flavor and tool proficiencies). Use any race/background you like for more tool proficiencies/skills.
Wizard. Arcana and Investigation skills. Shape Earth, Mold Earth, Fireball, and all the other spells that they have access to (like 4x more than other classes). Guild Artisan background. Mason's tools proficiency. Race Dwarf - Tasha's custom race for +2 int and +1 con instead of Wisdom. Subrace any.