Hi !

I also use this kind of build since the bloodtrail release. Very fun and powerful =)

I think that the basic attack being tagged both "Melee" and "Projectile" means that you can use both projectile and melee skills, but the attack itself remains a projectile. If adding a "melee damage" node does not impact the damage output of the basic attack, well, it's surely because it's not considered as melee ^^

That being said, bugs are a reality in Wolcen, so a confirmation by the team that this is what is intented would be welcome =)

About the damage, it indeed corresponds to the damage per projectile. When you equip a shield and a gun, you fire 5 projectiles at once in a cone, and if you display normal damage in the options, you will see that the actual damage dealt to ennemies by each projectile seems to correspond. Other skills based on weapon damage are not impacted, as well as the "average damage" stat in your character sheet.

Hope that this will help you, have fun !