A lot of people tend to focus on defense to learn the game. IE, staff specialist, swords, etc. I tend to subscribe to a different belief. Take axe, whips. You won't be 'very very good' no matter what spec you take, but learning timing, tact and how to eat a death is a lot more valuable than learning how to tank. You can either do your best to learn to avoid death and thats what you'll be good at, or do your best to learn to kill your foe before they get to kill you, and then you'll get good at that. I'd rather start off being good at the latter, because generally speaking the former is far easier to pick up.