Ranged vs Melee unbalanced especially in ascendency

Needs to be some balance to the roles here. Tried a few classes and the ranged have a clear advantage. I don't know if its the intent of the game but it seams that ranged nuking the most consistent path forward. I have been trying to get a mace and shield tank going and it will be going great, until I get in the arena with a caster. I get absolutely melted. Shield provides no defense to all the massive aoe and resistances are hard to come by. I've tried a dozen times to do the ascendency and I can get to the boss easy enough just to have to run around and lose all my honor to aoe spells. Not sure what the intent is here.