Both have their solo capabilities. With Velious i believe ranger now has fear animal spell and with snare, dots, arrows, melee, etc. its an effective way to solo. Starting the game from scratch as a Ranger is more frustrating than as a monk though. Monk starts off being able to dual wield and no weapons or armor really isnt an issue for a class that has strong hand to hand skill from the start and also has more ac the less junk they are carrying. Basically less can mean more for a monk alot of times early on which just isnt true for a ranger. Also mend and bind wound make the monk the ideal untwink melee. Ranger gets spells at 9 to add to his versatility and there is a fast cheap 2 handed weapon called Silver Swiftblade that i find to be a ton of fun when playing untwinked. Play the ranger for a challenging and in my opinion rewarding progression playstyle. You will have the tools with both classes to solo in the right situations, but the Ranger might take some struggling before you get to that point.
My advice.. Work every skill possible that could be used to your advantage to make the solo path easier. Bind wound especially. Keep spell skills up to par as well as melee skills with all weapon types even if you have to raise then with a subpar weapon. Track will help a ton like you think as it weeds out the bull crap. It helps a ton to find specific mobs for low end exp quests or if looking for the mobs that drop the cash items such as gems or rusty weaps.
As for back end hit table.. Im not sure about all that. A rogue is just a top dps class. Monk and ranger are behind a bit with monk edging ranger usually but worrying about dps comparisons between classes is silly sometimes because the era wont change so the tiers of dps is pretty much set. Everyone has their uses, its more about maximizing and pushing yourself with what youve got. Ranger has great utility and makes for a good ghetto tank when real tanks arent available. So do monks. I personally find all melee very rewarding playing as a true newbie with no gear because every new item feels like an accomplishment and you can always feel a difference with a weapon upgrade. Dunno if that helps but thats my take on it.
And nah youre not off base asking a question. The class forums are slow sometimes. You can try asking some questions in the starting zone forum too. Youre not going to be gimped playing ranger. Hes the offensive hybrid. Hes got great melee capabilities. You could look into warrior as well if you like seeing big numbers and crits. They actually do really good dps even though they are considered a tank class. Tons of warrior only weaps with great ratios as well. Class can feel a little dull to some though. I personally enjoy it.
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