First of all, welcome and glad to have you!
Below are my own opinions as to how to go about starting up on FK. It's definitely nothing official... So!
Frankly speaking, a wizard being your first PC will have you overcoming many difficulties that might make the game more frustrating than fun at times. I personally always encourage new folks to start out with a fighter or some other warrior-type to learn all about FK, then go on to the more complex classes like casters etc. Your magic is going to be fairly weak and pretty rarely used (unless you want to be resting/sleeping/meditating more than actually adventuring) for a while. Once you get more spell slots and a higher meditate skill, spell regen gets much better. Level, say, 16ish is when, with a decent meditate skill, spell regen isn't quite so unbearable as to keep me from actually using the spells I prepared in anything but emergencies. There are little tricks (e.g., certain spells/spell combinations) that
can drop some of the lower level mobs pretty easily, but that much IC detail isn't appropriate for OOC fora, so I'll leave that to the find-out-ICly category. As far as struggling in combat, you
will do so as a solo wizard, even up into the mid and high levels, no matter your spells/stats/feats/etc. Best I can say there is to do what D&D wizards do--find a dumb fighter to take all the hits for you while you stand safely back and throw your spells.
Never underestimate the value of decent skill levels with your spells. Power leveling a caster--wizards especially--is never a good idea unless you want to be the weakest 50th level PC ever.
Waterdeep is huge. The entire game map is just absolutely massive. People who have played here for years (I'm one of them) still get lost in some places, and new areas and wilderness adds are being put in very regularly. Try to learn landmarks, always remember that recall is your friend (until 10th level), and try to group up. Even getting lost while grouping has made some pretty fun RP in the past for me, so don't worry if it does happen. There are also maps you can buy in-game, though with all the updates, I can't say how accurate they might be. Waterdeep's market square is where you'll most easily find folks who're just hanging around. Almost everyone you find there is super happy to help, as long as you try to keep things as IC as possible and RP your character somewhat well. I myself hang out there sometimes for the sole purpose of being available to help if any newbies show up, and I really doubt I'm the only one.
That's where you'll find other people looking to group, too, so MS is a really good spot to know.
If you have OOC questions or questions you can't really figure out how to phrase ICly, the ask channel is always there for anyone, and we do our best to take and handle questions as quickly as possible and are always glad to do so, so don't hesitate to ask!
As a note, I would suggest having a look over the PK and relevant helpfiles if you've not already. Few people come here actively looking for PKs, and those who do usually don't last long. It's definitely allowed and definitely does happen, but shouldn't be the ultimate goal of anyone here, I think.
So, I hope that answers... At least one of your questions--hopefully more, lol. Hope you have a good time here!
Nascentes morimur, finisque ab origine pendet.
