Maybe check the wikis for a beginner's guide first. The combat is skill based and you have to manually aim, so if you're expecting WoW style combat, you might get your ass kicked.
Well some of the skills rerquire you to aim others are normal cast on the enemy it really depends, but generally be prepared to practice your aim. Also the game uses the enviroment, so for example there are fights where you have to push enemies from bridges bear that in mind
Think of it as a hybridization of several known styles. There's going to be a lot of lifting your shield, manual teleporting/dodging, aiming certain spells and other effects to consider.
It's pretty much non-targetting action style combat. Very fun--and the game in my opinion, is a twist on Diablo 3. But yeah watch or read some tutorials and you'll pick it up pretty fast.
Try a Trickster Rogue as your first toon, and get used to the dodging mechanic. Neverwinter borrowed a lot from Guild Wars 2, and has a very reflex based active gameplay. You cannot just stand and click, like in classic MMOs from the past.