Advice for duo team in R17

My wife has been AWOL from the game for some time (isn't as fond of it as I am) but is coming back in R17 to restart with me. In R14-16 she played a polearm melee and I was a Death Magic mage with healing capability. Obviously, my Death Mage was far more powerful than her melee character, which wasn't much fun for her, and I found that my heals didn't come up often enough to save her. So we are going to go a different path this time.

I am thinking I will try a more dedicated healer focused on Life Magic with some small amount of leveling DPS. I don't know how much (if any) combat balancing is going into R17 but I'm pretty sure my wife wants to continue to play something that can bang heads pretty good. She isn't a mage type at all and doesn't like having to restock arrows so I think she will stay melee.

Those of you on the QA server and see the changes coming, have any recommendations for a good duo combination? Is a dedicated healer viable? Is melee any stronger now? What type of melee would combo well with a dedicated healer?

Or should we both just build DPS characters until combat is more balanced? Honest input sought and appreciated. I want my wife to have more fun this time around