I've only played three other MMOs of this genre; UO, Everquest and LotRO. Of these, AoC has the, hands down, best and greatest combat system.
Heck, in ALL ways - except for the merchant and economy system in UO - AoC is, by far, the winner. Oh, I like the environment of LotRO better; I mean, hey, it's Middle Earth! But overall AoC is a far superior product, even with it's few faults.