Cyberarmy
Love fool
Been playing around with Vampiric and Spiky melee builds, and they are pretty powerful and not least fun. In particular I've been a fan of axes with Vampiric builds. The main reason ranged always ends up overtaking them is less because of raw power (actually fleshed out melee builds often overtake ranged builds there) but lack of flexibility. I feel like a few more movement options would go along way to bring melee builds up to snuff. When shit really goes down and you need to be in a certain spot, melees are often SOL without a teleporter.
That's why I mostly pair other melees with power staff or sledge hammer, the great mobility weapons. Great axes jump is only good for getting in combat. Scepters and wands have nice buffs and that sprint skill really come in handy in difficult times.
My melees nearly almost become boss killers in later nights. Scepters and swords really shine with momentum and isolation.
Edit: Also daggers are good too, especially with heroes that have high action points. Bonus points if they have isolation and poison skill lines.