As stated, i am a new player and have honestly only really made it to the town of monsters and about level 3-5 before i get a game over. I have 3 bonus points available and i really really REALLY want to play as the ranger class because of personal preferences but i find the understanding of distance to be very confusing to me. 

As far as i am aware, Withdraw is the only distance creating skill available, additionally with the steep stamina cost it is almost entirely unusable in most if not all situations. I feel as though the identity of a ranger is lost in that and im better off as a thief in general. I am, overall, enjoying the game, don't get me wrong there. I'm just a noob and trying to play in a way that is appealing to me and ultimately is confused on how to do so. 

In case anyone refers me to the wiki, i have been there but have as of yet found no mentions of any assiatnce on distance/ranged play.

Well, seems bow is really not good for now. You don't have much time to Withdraw, so you mostly just stay there, draw'n'shoot. Arrows have good damage if they hit the target. But that's all the advantage you may get. 

Overall, every character has to use cold weapons right now. Even mages can't stand and cast spells all day, as their mana won't recover itself.