as melee id take determ, tenacity, and no armour penalty rubies...
i doubt that pet will be able to take agro
30s cd for combat blow imo is ok, but u can always get that blank ruby since it saves u more.
with a pally reinc and charge skill from it the ccs are annoying as hell

)
haven't tried melee in a very very long time tho, because caster was way better, especially in astral having 1 more melee is usually annoying.