An extreme example is the toon i used for weekly Really Hard Way Magisterium runs when Cosmic Council was rolling hot. I came in late, the last year or so. They ran Saturday night incarnate trials starting with Master Magisterium/ Really Hard Way. That trial, and many 50/incarnate trials, have HUGE AoE damage patches. So….
I made a Beam Rifle Temporal Blaster. And then focused on +range bonuses. I buffed with everyone at the start of the fight then just hung out way away from everyone and hammered the DPS. Beam is fully ranged. It does good ST damage. I never had to dodge “crackle, you dead”. Works in the Tin Mage with the blue damage patches real good too. In trials where you need to constantly juggle barriers it is less effective, but still viable. Just always keep a dummy, er a teammate, between the bulk of the mobs you are shooting at and you.