Took the plunge...

[Eldaena]

Each time we get a new player in my LS we tell them first and foremost, try out all the battle classes. Get them to about level 10. The abilities you can get from each class level 1-20 can definitely help out greatly on any single class you want to do. (With the armoury system it allows you to equip some abilities from other classes onto whatever class you want to play.) Some basic ones I would look to do are: featherfoot (pug lvl 2), second wind (pug lvl 4), bloodbath (mrd lvl 6 but melee specific), cure (con lvl 2), protect (con lvl 6, good for soloing), rampart (gla lvl 2), sentinel (gla lvl 22 and very important later on), invigorate (lancer lvl 14 and pretty essential for melee), and hawk's eye (arc lvl 6 but melee specific again). You can find starter weapons around any town I think and also get them from doing some leves, so just keep your eyes out for them.