Rings higher up on the shaft can be not-useless if there is also a ring lower on the base too, but yeah almost always it'd be dumb to not have the ring as low on the base as possible. .. Even going so far as to reset its position even lower than is possible when first putting it on by doing several repetitions of kegeling in blood and pushing/maneuvering the ring lower and lower on the base (with the kegeled blood helping to keep it waaay down and tight at the bottom.)
If it's roughing you up too much, .. go for less time, or less intensity, or more rest periods and/or massageouts, or a different ring design or ring material, or slightly bigger size, .. and help the skin heal faster between sessions with skin-healing oils such as extravirgin coconut oil, or Emu oil, or Argan oil. (There's fake Argan around so get that one from a top-rated brand.)
Also, you wouldn't do this for sex but it can be useful for PE sessions, .. you might mess around with some manner of cushioning/underlayment beneath the cockring to spread and cushion its force. It will still occlude just as well (or even better) with cushioning, if the setup will stay where you put it on the base. Whether or not it will depends on the materials being tried and the design and/or material of the ring (steel, silicone, whatever).
The cushioning materials help the ring itself to be less 'bruisey' to the shaft, but they can also irritate and abrade the skin in a whole different way - from imprinting, or from being too 'grippy', or whatever, so lol look out for any new problems with that too. But once you come up with a good system and know what to expect from it, it's all butter.