looks like the idea and game mechanics are pretty solid and very similar to what was in FFXI.  Anyone want to give me some pointers on what I should look for and what I should avoid.  IE broken classes or anything like that?

A very long topic about Istaria's player about what to do and what to avoid.

First of all - nice to see another Gifted in Istaria. You will find an open world with helpfull population. If you happen to be on Order shard, you may seek my character "Nakties karys" of Universal Soldiers guild (or just read my blog there about my adventures).

Unfortunately, you did not provide information about your race: biped or Dragon. It matters much. As I am free-to-play, I am Human and cannot own land.

General notes:

1. Patience. You will need it if talking in chats. SOmetimes answer may come late

2. Some schools are "non prestige" (anyone at any lvl can join); some are half-prestige (low lvl to join) and some are prestige (may require some lvl.20 to join)

3. You cannot forget (delete) crafting school; you can forget adventure (combat) school.

4. Be nice: if there is public silo and you put 1 bronze bar there, no one would be able to add anything more. Store what you need and when you need, otherwise -use vault.

5. Check consigners at New Trismus, Bristugo, Aughundell for some stuff, be it crystals or spells.

6. If you got hoard items - Dragon nearby may want them. It would be nice to offer, since Dragons heavily depend on hoard.

Combat schools

Plan what do you want to achieve, this would help to choose wisely.

Melee combat: maybe Warrior is the best, since it is heavy hitter, uses all weapons and bears the heaviest of armor.

Ranged combat: not sure, never took one.

Caster: never took one, but from what I heared - either defensive Druid (Cloak of Thorns hits any mob that dares to attck you) or maybe Shaman. Druid may use Warrior equipment. Most of casters uses wooden weapons.

Supportive: Cleric, Healer. While great in healing wounds, not so much offensive alone.

Whatever path you would take - use your time to learn some healing schools. They will give you Life skill (very helpfull while healing yourself) and ability to use some healing spells.

Up to lvl.20 there is little difference about Armor, tools, weapons. Later you would be placed between two choices:

A: technology added. Your stuff may be modified by adding some technology, be it Power Strike V or Lumbering I. Tier 1 technology adds some +4 (?), while tier 5 - up to +24.

B: sockets added: You may leave sockets for crystals (Tools, weapons, jewellery, armor) and add whatsoever you like, provided you place right type crystal. Note that benefits cannot stack: if you add technology that gives +2 strenght, you cannot add crystal that adds strenght.

The choice is yours since both choices have their own positive and negative effects.

Combat itself:

*don't be fooled by numbers: lvl.88 named wolf may kill lvl.100 Warrior with the best equipment, spells etc.

*study your enemies: one mobs are resistant to slash, others to crush etc. Use "counter-magic": if you fight Flame beetle, use Ice, if you fight Ice golem, use Fire.

*cast/use all the buffs before combat, unless you are 101% sure about outcome (like lvl.100 warior slaining lvl.5 spider).

*use to know what enemies are social, what are not. Avoid enemies that can stun (while you are stunned, you are helpless).

*Trophie hunting is fun, but do not overdose it. If you are biped, you would take another classes and there may be really hard ones. That's where your trophies, stored in the vault, would do great job. There is almost no impossible monster, it's just about wrong group. Monster hits you too hard? Ask some Healer/Cleric to come or Druid to cast Cloak of Thorns on you.

*Do take quests. It is the basic task: not only it is fun and challenging, it gives you experience points and some valuable technologies too. There are plenty of quests, some "hidden", some not. They do depend on your combat level, but all are possible. At low levels (New Trismus and alike) there are many quests and Town marshal at Sslanis has lots of them too.

* if it still hard to advance - there's no shame to ask someone to be in  group. I was grown in such way: one big and very friendly Dragon fought lvl.91-95 Golems, I healed her...and gained tons of xp. Just do not overuse it...

Crafting

Once again: answer to yourself what would you want from crafting? Make all combat equipment yourself? Or be able to build any house? Maybe - being expert in organic materials?

*pick up basic school to have some training tools. They are not very best ones, but would fit for the begining

*take a look at what status this school does better. I made a mistake thinking I won't need wood. when I needed it -it became clear I would have to make 91 level within few days... Example: Blacksmith gives 8 fletching. Not so bad, but at level 100 you would have only 800 fletching. If that does not matter  - no problem. But if you want expert level weapons requiring at least 900 xp - go for fletcher.

*Take a look at other schools. For example, miner gives most xp to mining, quarrying etc. It is very grindy profession, but it may pay off. Example: I took Blacksmith, then decided I needed Weaponsmith (skills of Blacksmith were used). Then decided to improve mining - went for Miner (uses and influences both previous skills), later decided to help with building and levelled Mason to lvl.40. Result: I lear mostly stone/metal working schools, Fletcher being the only example.

*while chosing what to craft - choose numbers that easily divide by 2. Example: tool A takes 6 iron bars to make; tool B takes 7 iron bars to make. If you deconstruct tool A, you will receive 3 iron bars; if you deconstruct tool B, you will receive...3 iron bars. So, chosing tool A is probably the best decision.

*upgrade cargo disk and backpack as soon as you can. Remember that cargo disk lowers speed and prevents recalling: if you are attacked, you either need to sprint or detach cargo disk and recall (don't worry, cargo disk can be accessed by owner only).

*prepare for total grinding. While crafting, using "auto deconstruct" (provided you are crafting to level up) is the best option.

*do not rush for higher tier resource/item when you reach. Example: I may fletch maple (tier 4 resouce). Went to do so - gathered 1-3 logs per hit, lumber shops were guarded and far. Result: huge time waisting, big xp. Then I went to oaks (tier 3 resource) - some 2-10 logs per hit, lumber shop nerby, resources little guarded. Result: no time waisting, normal xp. if I count how much time it took to gain 1 level - Oak is obviously more profitable.

Some general tips, from my own life in Istaria

Vault: upgrade as soon as you can. And do not try to store every cool stuff there. My own vault is over-flooded with some 3 sets of armor, lots of trophies etc. It is bad, since if I badly need space, I have none.

Money: you will need it for consigners, formulas from town NPCs and teleporting. Most players may construct stuff for you for free, some will ask for components only (like 10 bronze bars, 2 dim essence orbs and 4 cedar boards).

Pawnshops, consigners: advice to check often since there may be really good stuff. Just check beforehand if you can/could use them.

Nodes: motherloads (massive trees) are very good and very rare; rich nodes (large trees) are good and rare; standard nodes (trees) are common. Prepare to the fact that the better resource, the more it is guarded. On the other hand - if you are high-levell fighter, it may be easier to kill golem/tree and harvest from it: both xp, lootable items, trophies and resource. Sometimes golems are referred to as "walking nodes".

Trophies: collect them, if you are biped you will need them sooner or later. Just don't do my mistake, do not depend entirely on them.

Information: iuse to check istaria.wikia.com, it has lots of usefull info.

Guilds: it would be wise to join a guild. Not only it is good to make friends, it's the way you will be helped and help others better.

---

Probably the end of (seemingly endless) topic. If there is anything unclear -ask me either in game or there, on mmorpg.com.