If your goal is to have such large amounts of DPS that you never actually interact with the content, then yes, doing this on a ranged character is going to be more efficient and most accessible by trading for OP ranged gear. There's no debate there. But you do need to get that DPS.
I think ranged is more efficient at clearing in most cases when you have the right gear, but I also think the accessibility of this is limited outside of trade. For context, I play hcssf almost exclusively since 0.1 and have quite a few 95+ characters across multiple archetypes.
In trade leagues many of the "OP" strategies that people use are reliant on extremely rare gear. This basically prevents them from being an option in ssf unless you're super lucky - even playing 24hrs/day for 4 months likely wouldn't be enough to obtain some of the gear similar to what you can see people putting in every single slot on the top of a trade ladder or what's used in a lot of high-level builds for people to "one-shot" pinnacles and clear screens on any build including ranged builds.
In this context, there's different practical "power ceiling" accessibility for certain build archetypes depending on the league.
Melee + Ranged archetypes are very much on the level in a ssf environment. I personally find that the archetypes centered around melee combat are the most versatile and tanky across all of the content and can do more damage if you have the right weapons, but they also require a bit more situational and spatial awareness and "setup" so to speak. I find them more enjoyable to play, which is why I play them the most.
Most people who start out playing ranged builds try to play with a similar playstyle when they switch to skills that are not ranged and have a difficult time because of this reason - it demands a different playstyle and build-approach than what they're used to, and because of that it feels comparatively bad for them to play.
When you pair that idea with the fact that they're also in a trade league, where the power ceiling for the ranged archetype they enjoy is very accessible, it will make melee archetypal builds feel that much more comparatively worse.
So I understand the sentiment behind the post. You mentioned omen of light farming so I get the feeling that the goal here is to farm currencies or things that can be traded for currencies. I recommend changing your goals from being currency-centric to being content-centric. The mind-set switch will enable you to find fulfillment no matter the archetype you're choosing to play, and you won't be overly concerned with the influence from economic-fomo. You'll be playing for you, not for trading to someone else.
