[loramin]

This is just my opinion, so take it with many grains of salt but ... the correct choice is Druid. I'll explain.

Bards are billed as the "jack of all trades", and they can do a variety of things. However, only Druids can:

* charm (like a Necro or Enchanter)
* quad (kill up to 4 mobs at once, like a Wizard)
* heal (like a Cleric/Shaman)
* DoT and "root/rot" (like a Necro/Shaman)
* buff (the level 60 Druid buff is arguably the most popular buff in the game)
* teleport themselves (and later other people) (like a Wizard)
* SoW (ie. cast the only spell in the game that makes you move faster, like a Shaman ... and sort f like Bards, who get something self-only but faster)

In other words, with SoW and ports you can go anywhere and explore the whole game. With heal you can keep yourself alive (and give groups a reason to invite you, along with your buffs) . With charm, quadding, and root/rotting you can try three completely different playstyles (whereas a class like Shaman can really only root/rot).

A Druid will not be the best at anything at 60, but you'll experience the most of different parts of the game on the way, and still have a very useful character at 60.

P.S. Oh, and one other thing 60 Druids do incredibly well is "power level" (they throw a spell on a low level character which kills monsters without giving the Druid credit, and then the Druid heals them, so they level much faster).

if you have a 60 and want to start a new character, you can power-level a friend's 2nd character, they can power-level your's, and you'll both get those characters to a high level faster than either would on their own.

P.P.S. The race truly doesn't matter, so pick what seems cool. Wood elves get a minor magic item that casts a root spell for them, while halflings get a 5% experience bonus and Hide (all Druids can cast invisibility on themselves, but it wears off, so Hide is nice if you want to leave your character unattended AFK). Humans/half elves get nothing, but are more unique here.