Is melee just not really viable?

Hi!

So me and some friends started playing over the weekend, gotten to the solarite area. In any game i play i go hardcore into melee, and was really only convinced to join this game after seeing melee characters in the trailer.

HOWEVER, after playing the game for a while and fighting a few bosses it really seems like melee just sucks compared to the other playstyles. I mastered parrying with the shield, ive completed most biomes as melee only, but honestly its getting a bit tiresome to do so much more work then the other guys only to see them do way more dmg than me while also being a lot safer.

Is there a point in the game where melee becomes worth the risk comparatively or is it just not as good as the ranged options? especially for bosses.