My account started as a pure, a range gmauler so my starting stats were 55 str, 50 attack, and 70 range (with 1 defense).
I used melee and trained my defense to 70. Took a while but I got there. Longrange will be unbelievably slow and tedious. After that I got my range up. Iron knives are fast, however you can also use a rune crossbow with Mithril bolts or simply just a magic short bow with iron arrows if you want to be a bit conservative on the price.
Can't say too much on quests seeing as I did all my pure quests beforehand. I would get most of recipe for disaster done and out of the way however, barrows gloves are a nice addition. For your attack/stregnth off the top of my head it's Waterfall quest along with The Grand tree/Tree gnome village which you need to quest. Might be another one but can't think of it as have only just started playing again.
My stats/project incase you're interested. Working on my Smithing (superheating etc) and Fletching (For bows to alch) to slowly get that 94 mage I've always been to lazy to get. Will be followed my 94 range too hopefully
Best of luck with your new project!