Honestly, if your goal is to get the most powerful character as fast as possible ... ignore gear. I mean, not completely: loot whatever you find that you can wear of course
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But the simple truth of EQ is you can make plat much, much more quickly at 60 than you can at lower levels, so it makes much more sense (efficiency-wise) to level first, then earn plat, rather than doing the reverse.
But of course, this is a game, so efficiency is never as important as fun.