1.
Not really.
2. and 4.
In China, the game is pretty well balanced. It all depends on the player. (and Gs ofc, but thats obvious).
+ Don't mention WoW or Tera. It's a completely different story... 
(So far it's not unbalanced or FOTM chars like in WOW - Mop - Frost DK.......for example)
Play with whichever class you like. What if you don't like the class when it hits max level ?
I leveled all class to max, then I deleted the ones I didn't like.
If you really want to fit any playstyle, create 2 char with different roles.
For me, now I have my Summoner, can be Heal/DPS, and Berserker Tank/DPS.
And the most important is to =
That's my Tips/opinions Koihime.
Take care !
