New player fleeing from WOW, please help/adviseFollow

Hello friends!

I'm fleeing from WOW. I'm experienced with MMORPGs... having played UO, AC, Tibia, WOW, Eve Online, Diablo 2/X.

I'm running from WOW. It has been my bane over the last 2 years. I've quit 2 times before this time (making a total of 3 times). I simply hate the game. I don't like the magic system, I don't like the crafting system. I played the game for its Battlegrounds, and now even that is screwed up IMO (especially for the "casual" player... I'm not REALLY casual, I'm just an ex-hardcore gamer with a job so I can't spend all day gaming like I used to).

I'm wondering if anyone can give me some advice.

I like playing magic classes. I had a tank mage and later a bard mage in UO. I had a mage in AC and a Sorcerer in Tibia. I loved playing my Necro and Sorcerer in Diablo. Eve Online has no equivalent... I just loved that game - but quit it because it didn't have the breadth of content I was seeking.

But I'm looking for a caster class that isn't a total weakling though. I preferred ice builds on my mage - still competative damage yet higher survivability. Lets not compare too much to WOW though - I hate that game. I guess Sorcerer in AD&D ruleset really jives well with me. (Think Sorcerer or Mage in a PC title like Baldur's Gate II: SOA.) I also enjoyed the Druid a great deal in wow, but quit my druid because I was not truly able to play the hybrid that I wanted to play - I always ended up being a healer, throwing away my casting and tanking abilities.

So hey - any advice? I'm downloading the 14 day free trial now. I'm looking for a new game to get into while I wait for Mythic's next great enterprise. I thought DAOC was dead - which is why I didn't try it out earlier. I find that it is definitely not dead.

Also can someone give me advice on the races as well as the classes? I'm sort of lost, reading some stat sheets, but this is far different from what I'm used to in other MMORPGS... Dex being a secondary stat for sorcerers for instance... ?!?!

Thanks a lot, everyone! I hope to enjoy DAOC!

All casters are brittle.

I would say Midgard has two that can take more of a beating than normal, and those being the Bonedancer and Warlock.

For Alb, maybe a heretic would classify as this.

In hibernia, I would say they are all tissue paper.

Heretics have the most HP's and best armor.
Warlocks and Bonedancers take a lot of damage, but have spells that do damage and return HP's even if they are being attacked.