Alternatives could be giving melees ways to avoid the area of effect abilities, and then focus more on controlling their hate rather than well, not fighting. IE WoW solved this problem by giving all melees 1-2(or more) Stuns to stun the AoE spells when they began being cast. Giving Marauders a Weapon Bash as well as other classes, would allow for melee - stun rotations to avoid AoEs, thus allowing them to be useful.
It worked in WoW, but right now the monsters AoE at inconsistent times with little time between the initiation and the launch of their attacks. Giving a delay and stun options would likely solve the balancing issue.