A Drow rogue with Ruthless Hunter, Drow Fighting Style and Two Fisted Shooter isn't a bad approach, though it does require feats just to get out of the door. Use a rapier in melee (sharpshooter talent) and the crossbow at range (probably need to hide to reliably get sneak attack until status effects are abundant, though, but that's why you're hybrid melee/ranged).
As far as Artificers, you're basically talking about picking up Versitile Expertise (Crossbow, Any Implement), Crossbow Caster, and shooting away. The crossbow isn't going to be as accurate as a dagger, but it will look cool and you can use a melee weapon in your other hand when you're in melee without a lot of resources dedicated to switching weapons.