Rapid Shot at level 3 is a good choice. Rapid Shot + Quick Draw + Divine Favor = a nice bump in power that you'll feel pretty immediately. The only downside is your short ranger - so remember to get those goggles that decrease your penalties ASAP.
I think I like the look of the setup with the Blinkback Belt since you get your damage online faster. As said before, you can always use a metamagic rod to keep buff spells like Cat's Grace up.
Part of me wants to suggest grabbing a single level of Barbarian eventually SPECIFICALLY for the Hurler archetype. That increases your range to 20 for the comet or 40 on a regular attack without penalties. That's better than 10 and 20. The only trouble is that rage is bad for you as a caster unless you KNOW you'll not be casting any more spells in a given fight.
Well, the WP can 1st round fervor, then rage, and 2nd round activate his weapon bond.
