New to P99 - Class Questions

[awolfdrawsnear]

I played a Gnome Necromancer into the mid 50s back in the day (started a few months after Kunark was released and quit a few months before Luclin) and gave zero poops about faction, murdering whatever I could and insta-clicking my poof circlet whenever I wanted. I just joined the P99 Blue server a few days ago for some free nostalgia gaming and I'm hooked again. Anyway, I have a couple of questions regarding which race/class I'm going to be spending my free time playing...

1 - Barbarian / Shaman
This is what I want to play (I think). I rolled one and was given an almost complete set of banded armor, as well as a 9/35 Cold Iron Morning Star, when I was around 5th level. This gear really helped me get through to level 12 solo, at which point things started getting really difficult. I caught a ride from a Druid to the Commonlands and gave South Ro a shot, and it didn't work out well, so hopped on the boat and ended up grouping in Unrest (after failing miserably to solo yard beetles). My question is this: Are Shamans very gear dependent if they want to solo? I don't expect to be a top-tier soloer like a Bard or Necromancer, but I want to be able to take single blue cons without being destroyed half the time. Am I just playing the class badly? Ideally I want to play a class that can solo decently but is still wanted in groups, so I can experience the most content and variety of play. If soloing blues is going to continue be super tough without gear I can't loot or afford...

2 - ? / Bard
This seems super fun, and I've heard a few things about how quickly they can skip through the grindy (not fun) part of the game. The big downside here is that it seems like a huge population of the server is doing exactly this, and most people think it's annoying. Besides being generally bothersome to others, I think this style of play might feel a little "cheesy" to me. Do people hate swarm kiting Bards? Does it get boring? I guess I could try it and find out, or...

3 - ? / Necromancer
Yeah I know, my entire EQ live experience was playing a Necromancer, but hey I liked it. I know this class can do just fine without fancy equipment. The big downside for me is that I miss out on the non-evil experience of Norrath just like I did years ago. If 1 doesn't work out and 2 sucks, I'll go this route and I'll pick a race that isn't Gnome. Not sure which yet.

Help me out with some advice here. If there's something I can do to make this Barbarian Shaman thing soloable, let me know.