Thanks for the replies. I was aware that these characters were getting wiped. That's why at this moment I'm just trying out a couple different classes to see how they play. I didn't want to go into the main game with no plan though or with unrealistic expectations of what was achievable on one character.

Which actually leads me to another question. Looking at the starting stats of some races it's clear they lend themselves to certain classes. Do those differences in starting stats make a big difference as you progress or can you overcome them through gear and such? In other words would choosing a more STR based race with lower spell casting stats make it so that switching to a spell casting class using that character will make for a sub-standard spell caster?

Or, more simply lol: how important is the race you choose?