Help me choose a melee dps!!

[Aeliott]

Through all the talk of difficulty, you'll spend a lot of time getting acquainted with your moves before unlocking new ones, by the time you hit 50 you should be pretty competent after spending so much time on one regardless of which job it is. I actually think they're all pretty equal in difficulty, maaaaybe NIN just slightly harder than the others because they actually have a much stricter penalty for messing up. I mean if you look at every Monk skill before you play it you'll probably get a massive headache, but while levelling it up and spending time with it it'll seem pretty straightforward. You probably have a good idea of how they all look / play like now, so I'm just gonna be that sap who says "just choose the one you think looks cooler" :P

huh ? Nin has AoE possibilities ? Katon every 20 seconds, and that's about it. Monk is far ahead of that with 2 skills, one circular and one conal (ok they cost a lot and leave you TP starved really quick, but still...), and an extra off-GCD conal attack. While not at DRG's level, Monk's AoE is nothing to laugh at.

Compare it with Katon every 20 seconds (if mudra lag lets you...) and a laughable 120 TP 100 potency circular AoE, you know who is better at it.

Hmm, Monk does have 2 skills, but Arm of the Destroyer should never be used for damage really. Much better just using Rockbreaker every Coeurl form while keeping Twin Snakes up and DK'ing as many things as possible in between. Or just Perfect Balance -> Rockbreaker spam. Arm might be viable if you know you can afford the TP against a massive hoard, like at the end of Sastasha HM but the damage is still very poor while eating huge chunks of TP.

I do think Ninja's AoE kinda sucks and is over-rated too, but it's at least better than a Monk without Perfect Balance. The guaranteed crit from Kassatsu on a full-duration Doton is pretty potent, and Katon's...okay....if Doton's already up. Death Blossom is kinda meh. But it's still passable when combined with the Ninjutsus. Drg leaves them both in the dust though.

[Asheilin]

Welcome to FFXIV OP!
if You're enjoying warrior, level that first! partially so you can get to 50 quick, partially because Main Story Quests take you through 80% of the dungeons up til 50. However, remember... you get a bonus xp of 50% while you catch up battle classes to your highest class. (highest is 30 everything else gets bonus til 30) That said, can always level a dps and tank up at the same time, ie every 5 levels play catchup.

As to DPS... I'd say go this order Ninja, Bard, Black Mage, Monk, Dragoon, Summoner. I've never seen parties turn down a bard or black mage; but as both of those are ranged and you asked for melee I put Ninja first. Personally, I find Ninja much more fun then Dragoon and Monk feel really difficult for me, however Ninja needs both for cross class skills so that would also give you a good reason to try them out. (dragoon's 34, Monk's 42) I main Bard, gearing Ninja as I go (they share Right Side gear [monk and ninja share pre 2.4 left side gear]) and Scholar.

[FyrmurlFloerasksyn]

I prefer ninja mainly because it pretty much has no positional requirements (thankfully) and it's the closest thing to a sword dps class we will be getting for a while.

[Lollie]

As you are a lifer tank, based off your statement, you would be best served leveling mnk initially. It is the only melee dps that cross classes with tanks atm.

[Kazumac]

You can never go wrong leveling DRG to 34 if you want to play a melee dps (or bard) at some point... The cross class skills are so essential (monk has some but most are lower leveled other than mantra). If you like DRG keep going with it... Or switch at that point.