[Burnsaber]

Also if you need any inspiration you can check out these heroes I did over a year back as an unofficial add-on to Worthy Heroes. It's amazing how the screenshots are still alive (xs.to is pretty good hosting site, it seems).

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=36670&page=3&highlight=Worthy+Heroes

But to give this post more purpose, here are some more ideas on how to make melee heroes worthwhile.

1) They come pre-equipped. Giving hero a simple "Enchanted Sword" & "Enchanted Shield" has a nice effect on combat stats. The hero also could be a bit of a pimp and have excess slots for some extra "bling".

2) Custom weapons & armor. If you have hard justifying the hero, give him a weapon that will make him scary on the battlefield. Just give a look to the modding manual and you will see a lot of stuff that really isn't in major use (dt-large, dt-small , dt-raise). Also remember that by chainin secondareffects you can create absolutely terrifying weapons. Example: A holy paladin-type hero could a magic sword that deals extra damage against big foes, and have that weapon secondary effect into something anti-demon, which then secondaryeffects into "small area holyfire" or "Holy Scrounge". With that kind of weapon, even tartarians will piss their pants.

3) Onebattlespell help. The hero is always accompanied by an elemental (summon elemental spell)? Valkyries (summon valkyries)? Undead chaff (raise skeletons)? Sprites? Swarm? Imps?