The kineticist is a pretty good dex-based melee character. You just have to choose kinetic blade and weapon finesse and you are in business. Your focus should be more on dexterity than constitution, but obviously don't dump constitution. Before you get infusion specialization, you'll need to gather power before attacking, but that's not usually a problem. If you need to move to attack the enemy, then just blast them from distance and then move into melee for the following round. You can use something like a cestus for purposes of threatening and taking attacks of opportunity, until you can reliably use kinetic whip.
Unchained rogue
Swashbuckler
Kinetic Knight
Feint shenanigan Hunter
Basically any saerenite archetype or prc gives dervish dance or its equivalent.
As an odd build Sword and Board needs a significant dex investment
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Here's my Hell's Rebels character: a Halfling Dawnflower Dervish Bard (currently 5th lvl). When buffed with Heroism, Cat's Grace and Battle Dance: +17 to hit, 1d4+12 damage (using only a masterwork weapon).
Note: We're using Background Skills, and the rebellion rules (Persuasive feat from rebellion rules).
Grippli Vexing Mouser...
Be a Grippli with the Glider and Jumper alternative racial features.
You are Small with a 30' speed, and a 20' Climb speed.
First level is Mouser Swashbuckler for this:
Underfoot Assault (Ex): At 1st level, if a foe whose size is larger than the mouser’s is adjacent to her and misses her with a melee attack, the mouser can as an immediate action spend 1 panache point to move 5 feet into an area of the attacker’s space. This movement does not count against the mouser’s movement the next round, and it doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. While the mouser is within a foe’s space, she is considered to occupy her square within that foe’s space.
While the mouser is within her foe’s space, the foe takes a –4 penalty on all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks not made against the mouser, and all of the mouser’s allies that are adjacent to both the foe and the mouser are considered to be flanking the foe. The mouser is considered to be flanking the foe whose space she is within if she is adjacent to an ally who is also adjacent to the foe. The mouser can move within her foe’s space and leave the foe’s space unhindered and without provoking attacks of opportunity, but if the foe attempts to move to a position where the mouser is no longer in its space, the movement provokes an attack of opportunity from the mouser.
This deed replaces opportune parry and riposte.
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Then, you go into Vexing Dodger UnChained Rogue for this:
Limb-Climber (Ex)
When adjacent to or in the space of a corporeal creature at least one size category larger than herself, a vexing dodger can climb that creature’s body with a successful Climb check against a DC equal to the target creature’s CMD. Although the vexing dodger is holding on to the creature, this action isn’t a grapple; it doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity from the creature, and neither the vexing dodger nor the creature she climbs gains the grappled condition. While the vexing dodger is on the climbed creature, the creature takes a penalty on attack rolls against the vexing dodger equal to the number of sneak attack dice the dodger possesses.
This ability replaces trapfinding.
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You essentially crawl all over your opponent, stabbing their vital organs in alphabetical order, layering on Dirty Tricks, backflip off their dead corpse before it falls, and gracefully glide to the ground.
That racial Climb speed will really help.
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I don't think there is any way to deal damage with it, but there is a lot of flavor using Weapon Trick for this:
Piercing Climb
Additional Prerequisite(s): Climb 8 ranks
You can use piercing weapons to climb as if your hands were free. You take a –4 penalty on Stealth checks while doing so.
You can take 10 on such Climb checks even while distracted or endangered.
@Melkiador That sounds intresting, Never thought of a Kineticist for melee... Do you have any sugestions for elements?
It really works with any element. Personally, I like to have one physical and one energy blast at 7th level, but the order and element is just a matter of taste, as long as the two elements have a composite blast. I do really like taking air for the ability to fly all day. Flying enemies are usually rare, but it’s nice to meet them where they are.
Because of the eventual iterative attacks and haste, melee is the “best” way to play a kineticist. The damage you could get once per round from range, you could get multiple times from melee.
With elemental overflow, the kineticist can have one of the highest dexterity scores in the game. So, it can have great accuracy and defense. But the whole mechanic can be a little difficult. Do you max out your overflow at the start of the day, or work your way up to it, while constantly updating your scores? You’ll just have to figure out what is best for you.
Going into every element is complicated.
Water: Probably has the best defenses, but most of its utility is tied to being in a water or ice environment.
Earth: Decent layered defenses and can bypass some DR. Good utility
Aether: Good layered defenses. Amazing utility. But doesn't combo very well with other elements. Requires an object for its kinetic blade that can get destroyed pretty quick.
Air: Defense isn't great and meant more for a ranged build, but it will still come up. Many options are based around range instead of melee, but all day flight is good for anyone.
Fire: Its defense isn't even really a defense. Fire is more of a mid-range element with a lot of good options for harming groups. Fan of flames can be great, but isn't really "melee".
I had a halfling hunter with 4 levels of unchained rogue that became the highest damage dealer in the party. With the myriad of teamwork feats and a focus on AoOs from crits, using a keen scimitar for a range of 15-20, I was shredding opponents.
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Basically anything that will also allow you to add your Dex to your damage, either via a class feature (Unchained Rogue's Weapon Training), or by a feat (Fencing Grace, Slashing Grace, etc).
Anything that does melee that isn't based on your weapon damage directly (Magus's Spellstrike)
Finally, options that deal scaling damage that isn't affected by size (Kineticist w/ Kinetic Blade or Kinetic Fist, Anything that grants Sneak Attack, etc.)
If you go Kineticist, Earth and Water are both great for more tanky builds, air and fire are great for more offense focused builds.
My personal favorite is to start with earth, you'll be nice and tough, and still do decent damage. Then when you hit level 7, choose fire or air(lightning) as your secondary element. That way you will have a good solid attack -vs- regular AC, a slightly less powerful energy blast that targets touch AC (but you need to watch out for spell resistance), your defense is one of the best defense talents available to the kineticist, air and fire both have flight options for movement (or you can just sit on the ground and fire one of your blasts at those pesky ranged attackers)
You could also go for a Kinetic Knight archetype build if you want pure melee, though they tend to be more Strength oriented since they use heavy armor and a shield.
I don't have a specific build, but a warpriest with sacred weapon damage increasing with level could work for you
But still infinitely more attractive than literally every other small weapon option...
Warpriest scaling damage dice looks impressive, but mathematically isn't that impressive.
For a small creature, it starts at 1d4, which is probably about the same as whatever dexterity based weapon you were going to use. But let's give a best choice comparison, so the kukri, which is 1d3 for a small character, so an average of 2 damage.
Small Warpriest Damage
Level 1: 1d4(average 2.5)
Level 5: 1d6(average 3.5)
Level 10: 1d8(average 4.5)
Level 15: 1d10(average 5.5)
Level 20: 2d6(average 7)
So, at the maximum level, you're only getting an average 5 more damage per hit from the scaling dice. That's not very impressive. If you'd gone arsenal chaplain you could be getting +4 to both attack roll and damage, moving to +6 with some gloves of dueling. And most classes have similar flat damage improvements that are generally better than scaling damage dice.
This might be a bit out in the weeds, but if you need to get some decent damage on a smaller character, might I recommend the Shikigami Style chain of feats? By level 5, your character could be swinging a Traveler's Anytool shaped into a sledgehammer for 4d6+ 1.5(Str). It'd be a +2 weapon as well. If you need to make up for a lackluster To Hit bonus, you might also consider the Surprise Weapon trait for a flat +2 to hit with all improvised weapons.
Halflings get Catch Off-Guard and Throw Anything for free with the "Resourceful" alternate racial trait. Failing that, Makeshift Scrapper rogue, Hinyasi Brawler, and Monk of the Empty Hand all have decent potential.
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(Pardon the double post, I don't seem to be able to edit at all anymore)
Oh! I almost forgot. Eldritch Guardian fighters get a familiar which shares all of their combat feats. A "Mauler" monkey familiar will make a great backup melee dancer until you can find yourself a real Shikigami for flavor and added fun.
The monkey will be able to use Improvised Weapons, too: they have hands. Maybe get yourself Broken Wing Gambit and Paired opportunist, so that when either of you is attacked, both of you get attacks of opportunity. You could call yourselves Rhyme and Reason.
"Prepare for trouble!"
monkey noises
Dervish Dance Magus would be strong as well.
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I had a fun Gnome Monk build a while back that focused more on debuffing than straight damage.
Scaled Fist Unchained Monk, focused on Dex and Cha.
Used a combination of the Enforcer feat, with Shatter Defenses, Medusa's Wrath, and Improved Dirty Tricks.
Enforcer would allow me to demoralize things to give them Shaken, which would make them flat footed from Shatter Defenses, which would trigger 2 extra attacks from Medusa's Wrath. Dirty Tricks could impart a few other debuffs.
I think I had something else that would make them sickened or maybe something else, been a while since I thought about that build.
I had a fun Gnome Monk build a while back that focused more on debuffing than straight damage.
Scaled Fist Unchained Monk, focused on Dex and Cha.
Used a combination of the Enforcer feat, with Shatter Defenses, Medusa's Wrath, and Improved Dirty Tricks.
Enforcer would allow me to demoralize things to give them Shaken, which would make them flat footed from Shatter Defenses, which would trigger 2 extra attacks from Medusa's Wrath. Dirty Tricks could impart a few other debuffs.
I think I had something else that would make them sickened or maybe something else, been a while since I thought about that build.
Didja get Bewildering Koan?