Burglar -  Not the most widely played of characters but certainly one of the funnest.  Sneak attacks, Buffing, Steath the burglar is great for those who prefer to plan out their attacks rather than run in blindly swing a big sword.  As any party knows, having a debuffer around is just as valuable sometimes as having a healer.  While the burglar's basic attack still are a little on the underpowered side, the special attacks more than make up for it.  Lastly, one of the greatest reasons to play a burglar... hitting level 15 and being able to pickpocket mobs.

Champion - Rivalling the ranger for solo-ability the ranger is a great choice for a first character.  The champion's primary role is that of an area of effect damage tank.  Champions have the ability to attack multiple targets over 180 and 360 degree arcs means that even running solo, a player will be able to take out mobs that would easily drop another character.  High damage output and the ability to use heavy armor and bows at later levels makes the champion one of the most diverse and fun to play characters in the game.

Guardian - This is the tank class, sword and shield and a lot of kick ass attacks.  There's really not much to say about this class, other than it's a solid high defense and high survival based character.  While you are not doing the most damage of the character classes, you are able to keep doing damage long after everyone else has died.  Get used to drawing aggro to keep your group alive and being the center of the action at all times. 

Lore Master - Let me state simply that these are NOT wizards.  In order to preserve some of the mystery surrounding characters like Gandalf, the mage class has been dubbed lore master.  When you see the big wizards you'll understand how puny your powers are in comparison.  That being said, I actually liked the Lore Master profession.  Using pets and magic to turn your enemies into nothing more than char spots on the landscape is great.  The diversity of magical skills leaves much to be disired, but the skills that you do pick up are very handy.  Lore Master is a very playable class, it just lacks some of the oomph I was hoping for. 

Minstrel -  The Minnee is your healer / buffer and the game NEEDS more folks to play.  I've leveled my character up faster than any other class, because there is always someone who wants a minstrel in their group.  For any large group a minstrel is essential for success.  Despite how the name sounds the minstrel can actually do some damage.  It looks a little dorky seeing a character whip out a lute and do damage, but hey everyone wants me in the group and I get to level REALLY quick.  Everyone should have at least one minstrel toon, nuff said.

Hunter - The Hunter is by far the most played character in the game, and with good reason.  Rangers do high damage from long distrances, meaning that most enemies drop before they are able to do damage to you or your equipment.  Rangers have the ability to port from area to area, rather than having to hike all around the map.  As a first character the ranger is a great choice, you have low repair costs and almost no travel expence.  If you are going to be playing a ranger try and pick Elf as your race, you will eventually get racial bonuses that will help with your bow use.  The only disadvantage to playing a ranger is that their are SO many of them, expect for people to look for more specialized characters at a later levels for grouping.