Monk Fists
Lvl/Skill/Dmg/Delay
# 5, 34, 5, 37
# 10, 64, 7, 35
# 15, 94, 9, 34
# 20, 124, 11, 33
# 25, 150, 13, 31
# 30, 175, 14, 30
# 35, 200, 16, 29
# 40, 220, 17, 28
# 45, 240, 19, 27
# 50, 260, 20, 26
# 55, 280, 21, 25
# 60, 295, 22, 24
20/26 at level 50? Goddamn. I don't see why anyone would play any melee class other than a Monk given the information that we have. Even if the newbie armor quests were left in all of the other melee classes were already going to be second class citizens. With them taken out the only melee that isn't going to be a straight up charity case to invite to a group is the Monk. Their fists scale absurdly well and they can function with basic crafted items (Raw Silk into Cured Silk, get some jewelry, done). You aren't going to need a real tank for content until next summer so there's no reason to punish yourself by playing one now unless you are either 1. boxing or 2. have a boner for a particular class.
Fuck, even if I was planning on playing something like an Erudite SK come Hell or high water I'd probably still start with a Mage and twink out the SK later on.