my 2c
the rules in DAO are actually simpler than many serious rpgs - i think BG and Neverwinter would be harder to start from. DAO is more actiony overall.
the single best thing you can do especially if you are a strat player is try to play in "rounds" with the "tactical" view
this means
first set your game to autopause when enemy sighted
when you are in combat, mousewheel out the view till you have a top-down look on the battlefield. once you know what you are doing the fps style cam is cooler but for understand what is happening birdseye is much better
now, in old games like BG you could set the game to autopause after each round. that meant it was easy to play combat "tactically". DAO doesnt do that, but you should still play like that anyway. basically, pause the combat after each few hits or after each spell is cast, and then check what each character is doing and adjust targets and actions as needed. dont let them do anything, micromanage everything. once you know how everything works you can get away with a bit more hands off but to start with you want to be monitoring everything
two other small tips help when you start
first id suggest turning off the AI strategy thing completely. Its not that its not clever and powerful, it is, and thats the problem. it takes a bit of rules knowledge to use properly. otherwise your characters will be doing "stupid" things you dont want all the time and you wont really understand why and it will just make things harder. micro it all first. once you get the hang of how the rules work, then play with the AI stuff.
second, spells can be very powerful in DAO, but you have to know how to use them and that only comes with practice/trial and error. so dont be too impatient with your spell users. youll find some combinations of spells and spells and abilities work really well.
ok third and more minor tip. dont be afraid to use poisons and other kinds of buffs. they all add up.
ok fourth and important tip. gang up. this is the same as in your RTS games - basically if a lot of your people attack one of theirs, thats one enemy you arent going to be taking damage from much longer. generally speaking, its best to concentrate fire (select whole party, target enemy)
and fifth (i keep thinking of things) don't be afraid to use terrain where you can especially in dungeons. basically, when facing large numbers of enemies, the more you can "stagger" them the better. if you have area effect spells or spells or abilities which can paralyze or freeze, use them to reduce the number of enemies you will be in melee with at one time. If you can pick off nearer enemies without "waking" ones further away by using carefully targeted missile shots, do that. Try to avoid getting "swarmed", especially if you have a more "sneaky"-style party like I do.
youll get the hang of it. there is a logic to it all, you just have to play a while to see it (like any genre)
good luck!
PS I'd mildly disagree with two former posts. DAO doesn't actually use D&D rules, of course it is the same general idea but it is a new ruleset and fairly simplified especially in the spell area. This makes it a bit easier to pick up. Secondly, in the DAO rules (compared to D&D) not only are spellusers simpler to play but warriors have a lot more special techniques and abilities - ie. in some ways they aren't a whole lot different from playing spellusers. So I think you can be brave and play whatever class you think you'd enjoy. The truth is at least compared to regular D&D in this game playing a mage and a fighter aren't so hugely different.
