So I've been playing a generation of xbow for the first time in a long while the past couple days. I've shot many schmucks and been shot to pieces by many a rancid aimbotting shitlord. My observations so far are that none of the ranged builds, save certain throwing builds, are currently overpowered (when there are a decent number of players on (EU**)).
On numerous occasions, yesterday in particular, I saw a cluster of shield-having melee rush the opposing team's ranged camp and easily roll them up. They took some losses in the process but so what? This isn't rock-paper-scissors. Having a shield doesn't guarantee you a win against ranged and it shouldn't. It's just an advantage. The fact remains that a bunch of melee with proper shields and a little teamwork turned a ranged problem into a non-problem.
With that in mind, it is my opinion that people complaining about ranged should invest in a shield and give working together a try. All it costs is one tier of either STR or AGI from your min-maxed s-key heroes.
**It's a different story on NA with 10v10's.
On a related note: I think this game would benefit from making it easier to split wpf between two weapon classes. I had to go with 7WM on my hoplite to get a workable amount of 1h/pole and 8WM on my arbomolester to be able to shoot straight and still have a minimum 1h proficiency...and I don't think anyone likes a ranged with 8 athletics. Being able to more efficiently make use of a side-arm might reduce the gripes about having to pick up a shield as well. Perhaps an improved "synergy"-type bonus specifically for the 1h proficiency. One that is gained with investment in any other WPF including ranged... Yeah, I don't know. This will take considerably more thought than the thirty minutes I've given it.