Hardest Class for a New Player

[dookieshed]

What's the most difficult class for a brand new player and why is it Bard?

In all seriousness though, I convinced a friend of mine who's never played EQ to install P99, so I was helping him pick a class. I basically just gave him advice based on how difficult the classes are to play, how gear dependent they are, how good they are at soloing, etc, and from what I know about Bard (which isn't much), it's hands down the hardest class to play. But I don't really know to what extent that's true.

Edit: I forgot to mention-- HE CHOSE BARD

Is it a huge mistake for a new EQ player to choose Bard?
How tough of a time is he going to have learning this class?
Anyone have any useful advice for him?

Thanks!