Ranged seems to stagger people more than anything else in the game. Feels like it even got worse recently. Even a really low damage ranged hit can get you killed. Make it so it doesn't screw you up so much when hit in melee, or when ranged are kiting
Headshots are random as hell and yet 1 hit kill
Xbows have no build requirements and are the worst implemented weapons in the game. They can even penetrate shields and do damage unless you spec way into shield skill, and then the weight from the shield makes it so you might as well play a pure shielder class
No incentive to put wpf high into melee when you can hybrid into xbows or throwing (with very minor build tweak)
Devs like ranged too much to change it though