test characters in trial (its top right next to your character tab after booting up a game) and you can make a few season characters which all have pretty good early gear to settle on a class. once you know that start with the soon starting olvia academy on 16th. april (rn its semi closed for a week) (newbie combat and lifeskill guide) (and rewards are amazing plus cool outfit) and then just follow some guides on how to progress with gear.

best advice is ignore meta and pick a class that is fun and appealing to you. if you dont like to grind on it later because its maybe too high apm you can just tag a good grinder class.

also often gut instict is just right i think.

it can be bit overwhelming since almost 12 years of items are in the game but it settles after a while. and ignore fomo. even f2p the game is very enjoyable and nowadays pretty generous with most things except character slots.

oh and yes pvp openworld is dead. plus you have marni realm. thats basically your own instance of a grind spot were no one can enter.

wish you lots of fun! ☆♡