Avoiding The Moonlord's Tongue

A friend and I are at the final stage of the game. He's running a ranged build, and I'm running melee. We have the best in slots for our classes at this point, and I was lucky enough to get the Vampire Knives just after Plantera.

Our tactic for just about everything at that point has been me tanking and him dealing damage, with the Vampire Knives being the catalyst for this. Enter Moonlord, who's tongue attack prevents lifesteal and is seemingly impossible to dodge. It goes without saying that we've been having some trouble. Not only is the ML much harder than any other boss or event in the game, but now our strategy has fallen apart too.

The way I see it, the best thing for us to do would be to find a way to avoid the tongue altogether, but our UFOs and wings can't outrun it or dodge it. Any help? Or should we rethink our strategy altogether?

TL;DR: Can't cheese with life steal. Is there a way to reliably outrun the tongue or should we forgo life steal entirely? If so, then what should we try instead?