The easiest classes for melee and ranged, in my opinion, are 1h or spear with shield, and crossbow.
Learning the combat mechanics in the game is extremely difficult. Using a shield lets you focus on your attack methods while falling back on the shield to block for you. If you keep at it and get good at aggressive swings, try putting your shield away when you are about to engange enemy melee fighters. Spear and shield is amazing for new players who want to feel useful. You can fight on front lines or defend your team's ranged from enemy cavalry. Either way, your spear will rear horses and stop them in their tracks. If you don't get the kill, your teamates will quickly swoop in to take down the halted horse rider.
Crossbows are the easiest ranged weapon to learn. Bows slowly lose accuracy as you hold the shot, but crossbows do not. Throwing weapons do not lose accuracy either, but have a large margin of error and may miss targets even at very close range. Throwing weapons also get MUCH less ammuntion that crossbows or bows, and are only effective at mid to close range. The hardest part of using a crossbow is reloading. This is a good thing. Reloading crossbows safely teaches a new player to find cover and observe the battlefield. If you know where your team's main force is and where the enemy is clustered, your next shot is that much easier.
If you want to get better at combat mechanics in melee, ask people in game, IRC, or join a clan's team speak server and ask to train in duel mode. That's the best way to improve your footwork, manual blocking, and chambering of attacks.
