yes, laning is very hard without this, i was thinking a bit and the ideas i had for possible melee characters were these (independently, not all together :D)
* long attack range - a big pickaxe? - with slow attack speed big swinging down fast could work, need to move while attacking and not...
an overexpensive item with not many stats, maybe, like 3k and nothing much else than
walking for 3.5 seconds on an elevated invisible plate like you imagine jesus on water (carefull of duration extenders, wouldnt go any higher)
mb give a small damage boost and make it a yellow item, so it...
careful, a cohesent hero design? o.O
they did a great job with the base lineup, think and hope there will be many many many other options to come after that.
Dota 2 also start with not many heroes. Yes they had more to copy, but for beginners its much more easier if we arent too fast in the...
I just experienced the same, but i had a phase before where i just had a sword in hand and could attack with it. Maybe the bug is caused by an unused mechanic regarding this.
Edit: Also i could end it by hitting a w on enemy hero