Blades are the only weapon like that. The closest ranged weapons come to blades would be Kojima weapons. They require charging, and they only have a few shots (6, I think is the most they offer), but they are devastating. They also come in missile form, but they're slower than they should be. Zinc missiles, Argryos weapon arms, and the mighty Arsenikon cannon (lol) are the best of the Kojima weapons.
EN Defense is based entirely on the build. Tellus, Hilbert, Argryos, and Latona parts have better EN Def than ballistic. Some parts are evenly split between EN and ballistic Def.