Not just another "best class" postFollow

Hi all,
I'm thinking about starting EQ2. I played EQ from Kunark through about 2.5 years ago. My favorite characters there were my Beastlord and Druid. My first EQ character was a ranger and that left my virtual mmorpg life traumatized so that I never want to waste time (no offense -- i understand they fixed rangers) on a class that was kind of lame at the time I played it.

I like classes that aren't totally gear-dependent, can solo well (i.e. kill quickly, efficiently, and take down mobs of hopefully equal level), and yet are still desired or at least not hated in groups and guilds.

So 2 questions:
#1: Which class do you think best fits that description currently?

#2: Do you gain experience so much faster in groups that it isn't really worth soloing much unless you just love to solo?

Thank you in advance for your opinions!

My monk has soloed his way up to lvl 73 so far, although the RoK mobs are tougher than what I've encountered before, they are quite doable at equal lvl. (none heroic though, logically)

The invis and feign death are a great aid throughout the game, you can really work with it, split up tougher groups by FD'ing and finishing the rest of the group within a certain amount of time (before they respawn).

Quests are still the way to go I believe, and ofcourse groups get those done a lot faster most of the time.

Gear will always matter, but I've played with my monk with decent gear (which is non-raid) I bought or a guild member made for me, and with few masters even for a long while without problems.

In the end, you'ld be better off just trying out some classes and see what you like.