And I realize Saito already responded to you. I assure you, I am not trying to pile on you. I am just trying to have a reasonable discussion.
One can't really say we're piling on anyone if we're pretty much in agreement with the overall message, albeit for different reasons. :P
Melee on a tactical level might seem like they are behind the ranged... But on a practical level, I think Pandemonica's point is that they are way easier to use. Thinking on it further, they don't have to jump through
nearly as many hoops as the ranged do in order to be effective. I think it could even be possible to do an all melee run by going to high ground and shoving off everyone that chases you (though obviously smacking them for damage before the shove, or shoving everyone but one or two enemies that everyone gangs up on instead), with maybe one tanky as hell melee parked below to pick off everyone you yeet off the cliffs or bridges.
Sure, ranged enemies would annoy you for a couple turns, but that's what all the grenades and bonus action healing are for, right?
(With the Bard mod, I ended up running a 19 AC College of Valor Bard who was supposed to be an archer. But he somehow doubled as the party tank and ended up being highly effective in melee because of Valor Bard's shield proficiency, and enemies would always aggro to him because he had his bow drawn half the time. 19 AC was apparently high enough that he was pretty much untouchable, even against enemy archers firing at him from high ground. Then I kind of figured out that I really should have just been using him as a melee instead of an archer. Eh.)
