yes there is exp but there is no leveling per se. there are battle ranks and you get a certain number of cert (spec) points with each battle rank and at ranks 6, 9, and 19 (there are 20 total ranks right now) you can select special passive and active implants that give you extra skills

there are really no classes in it like their are in daoc either. a medic can fly a reaver and shoot a sweeper shotgun as good as anyone else

if he chooses to spend his training points in such a way.
also you can forget (respec) any 1 cert you wish every 24 hours and immediatly replace it. you can also change out implants anytime you want (as long as you are at the sanctuary, like your realm's capitol city, or a medical facility) as often as you want. they have like a 3 minute reactivation timer after being installed or recovering from death.
as for armour, well it is like everything else in the game. basicly there are very few restrictions. the heaviest armour is a MAX (mechanical suit with built in vehicle or soldier guns, depending on the config) which basicly makes you a walking tank, but you can't drive, fly, hack, or ride in most (but not all! the Galaxy jet and Sunderer vehicle have special MAX passenger areas) vehicles in it. you can drive, fly, ride, and hack wearing the lighter armours but they provide much less protection. the basic armour is agile exo suit and anyone can wear it without a cert. one tier above it is reinforced exo suit and it can be worn for 3 cer points (you gain 3 cert points with a new char and 1 per battle rank after that). there is also the infiltration suit which provides no protection, but allows the wearer to be semi-invisiable while wearing it.
basicly the certs are as follows
7-9 different types of advanced weapon systems, including antivehicle, antiground troop, sniping, and antiaircraft.
2 support certs - medical and enginering. enginering also has an advanced spec to allow one to place very nasty traps and gun systems
3 different kind of air craft - a heavy armed aircraft, a lightly armed stealth aircraft, and a troop transporter with basicly no offense.
about 10 different types of vehicle certs ranging from ground troop transports to driver only light tanks
hacking and advanced hacking certs, which are used for taking over enemy bases and equipment terminals.
you also don't really have personalised items in this game. when you respawn after a death at a base, watch tower, or Advanced Mobile Unit (respawn and resupply unit that can be taken anywhere at all) you go to a computer and buy any peice of non vehicle or aircraft equipment you are certafied to use. you can also have it memorise up to 10 different equipment configs and automaticly load them with 1 button! on my sniper char i have about 3 different favorites that i use depending on the situation.
if i am sent out to scout for enemy AMS units by my squad (group) i often carry a minimal supply of sniper ammo, extra med kits, and my favorite gun for using against soft troops, which can also fire small grade rockets! i bring extra rockets of course!
if i am going with my squad to attack a base i carry a lot of sniper ammo, only 1 med kit, and a sweeper shotgun and a lot of armour piercing ammo for taking out enginer gun turrets, MAX units, and enemy vehicles
for solo sniping i use favorites 3 - a ton of sniper ammo, 2 med kits, and a few gernades. the downside to this config is i only have like 30 shots loaded in my close range machine gun

but you can always loot ammo from dead troops if they were carrying any!
anyway this game is a
blast to play! you can log in for 30-45 mintues and have fun, unlike a game like daoc where a 2-4 hour commitment is needed for most things

there is an 'instant action' button that can be used almost anytime that would be like porting you to Dunn Crimthain if there was a battle going on at amg emain! it literialy puts you at a 3-5 min run from action almost anytime you want, as often as you want.
also, at least so far, zerging means nothing in this game! having bigger numbers means nothing in relation to how successful your empire will be at controlling bases. you also get experience (which is based on how many enemy units were killed at the base during the duration of the seige. for those that don't know there is a 15 minute count down from the time a control center is hacked to the time it falls under your control. this is very nice because there is a public message about it and you have a chance to undo the hack for your empire!) simply for being on the squad that does the hack. its not like daoc where if you want to farm rps (or BEP or CEP, battle experience points and command experience points) you should actually avoid keeps! 2 nights ago i was awarded 3,000 BEP for taking a base after a big battle. compaire that to making 90-150 BEP for killing someone - taking bases in this game is actually worth your time
its a great game but i don't know if it will succede as a mmorpg to be honest

because it doesn't have huge time sinks to draw you into it like daoc does. however, it will certainly be a hit for people with limited time to spend gaming because it doesn't have a 20 day /play time grind until you can go have fun.