Best class to play as just starting?

[spidey555]

Any suggestions?
Also any tips would be most appreciated!

[Humble Dripborn]

dwarf berserker

[.//slayer]

A dwarf bulwark is a solid choice, since it's a very durable class with low needs and decent survivability. It's great for learning areas and bosses for the first time, and there's a good chance you'll be able to advance fairly far into the game without too much of a problem.

It all depends on your preferences, though :) When I started playing, I unlocked archmage as soon as I could and spent the next insane amount of hours playing a mage and dying before ever reaching level 20. The effects were just too flashy and the damage too high to play anything else. Later on I discovered other great classes, but archmage will probably remain my favourite, even though I never finished the game with one.

[Dekar]

The first boss for dwarf is rather strong compared to most other races, so pick Higher Bulwark if you have problems with it.

[manystarredcloak]

Alchemist, 5/5/5/0 in Explosive Admixtures and you can clean everything before they see you.

Just lost 7 lives to a orc pyromancer doombringer randelite, you never know what RNG has in store for you. So a ranged class is much safer than a melee one, and those who can dispatch your foes out of line of sight are the best among them.

[Melusca]

Probably Thalore Berserker. Easy and fun to play. Put a few points in Rush to close distance with casters and ranged enemies, 3 points in Stunning Blow to stunlock bosses, increase STR and DEX and you'll pretty much wreck the early game.

[AuraOfDawn]

Early tips? When you unlock summoner, switch to playing it. It'll teach you good deals about resource management, sustain management, and positioning. It's also due to the large number of meatshields, a rather survivable class overall. As a astarter clas I actually got furthest with a dwarf archer (which I don't recommend, archers are rough, especially early.). Berserker and bulwark are common choices, though some of the berserker changes make it a bit more complex then it used to be. Archmage is good starter fodder when you get it, but doesn't really shine until you've earned some other unlocks for it later on. Cursed is unlocked early and is a more (much more) complex version of a bump-melee class, but more interesting to play as then berserker would be. If you feel you have a solid grasp on the games mechanics, go nuts.

And always run some form of escape. Early, this is either a teleport rune/spell, or a movement infusion. Either will help you get out of bad situations, which is always important.

[Powered by Tears ®]

I agree with Alchemist, at least from the "clearing" standpoint - they are hard to beat.

[Robotica]

I actually find range classes the easiest. I don't remember the spell name, but once you get a teleport spell and a shield you can pretty much get out of any bad situation. If your fighting a boss that can easily kill you just make sure you pop your shield and then as soon as it wears off just teleport to safety and rest until eveyrthing is reset. This doesn't work for small rooms, certain bosses and until you have enough points into teleport it can sometims randomly teleport you to a unsafe location. It is however, well in my opinion anyways, much easier to manage with a poor character than that of a melee.

[Aria]

I played a Corniac/Higher/Dwarf Bulwark when I was new to the game, and once I unlocked the Archmage (which you can get right out of your starting zone), it became my most-played class. I think it's unfortunate that there's no pure magic classes starting out since I find the Archmage to be a fairly easy class to play. They're strong and very versatile with practice. Alternatively, if you have the DLC, Doombringer might be a good choice*

*their starting area is difficult and not really intended for new players, but I got farther than any other character thus far on a Doombringer. At the moment they seem very powerful.

[phadin]

I had most of my success with a Corniac Summoner when starting out. I agree with the previous poster about the capabilities of a summoner, learning the game, and the meat shields the summons provide. It is also a very different way to play however, as most of your offense is summoning monsters and hiding rather than fighting yourself.

[JarJarThinks]

At the VERY start? Alchemists make for very ranged + defensive, but nukey playstyle, picking Balwark or Berserker is in line of get in there and hack n slash.

I would not play rogues until you have a better understanding of what the game will throw at you.

As for tips?

Always have some sort of heal/damage prevention/reduction, be it a regen / heal infusion, shield runes or even simple wild infusions help.

Always have an escape plan, and I'm not talking about "Run away!" plans, i mean having the ability to move 6+ spaces away from imediate death/harm, good escapes include phase doors and teleports, movement infusion are good but not always the case.

After finishing starter areas, there are a few things to do,

- fight Bill the Troll, he gives good loot / exp but can hit hard (End of Trollmire)

- go to Derth and fight in the arena (roughly lvl 8+ for a good chance) ,(+2 Generic Points) contains
= a Halfling slinger, difficult if you can't kill him quickly or get close
= a fighter who will rush you, shouldn't be too problematic, can repulse you
= an arcane blade, get in his face, and smash it (or blow it up), not too problematic

- Find and get the alchemist quests, get potions that suit the class you're playing
= One in Derth
= One in Shalore town, (SW of land mass, behind trees)
= One in Last Hope
= One randomly on the world map, look around

Quick unlocks:

Archmage :
= you will see a guy in robes on the world map, talk to him and give him a magicly powered artifact (Yellow text name) (Will say magically powered in tooltip for item)

Summoner:
= see an enemy summon somehting, best found in forest maps, honey trees are you're best bet for this

Transmogification Chest: (One time drop, every character gets it after unlock)
= Will drop from bosses, helps with weight and is a godsend for managing inventories