Guild Wars 2

I know it’s going to be situational, but what are we supposed to do in fights where bosses tend to one-shot whatever they hit or have some ability that makes melee inadvisable? I ask this because I feel like a lot of the dungeon fights seem to force me to switch to my scepter/shield and do shouts. Ranged characters just blast away while dodging/kiting with their full damage output.

Alternatively, would a fully defensive gearing of toughness/vitality be able to withstand staying in melee for these situations?

Fully defensive is not enough sometimes, making range the only option those times. In high FotM I find myself using scepter a lot.

So? Guardian ranged single target is not even that bad actually. The scepter does feel awkward in pvp because of the slow speed, but in pve that is much less of an issue.

Provided you can make your smites hit, the scepter’s single target damage is very close to what you could achieve with the greatsword.