Runes of Magic US / AU

Most merchants have a button on their interface that allows you to repair gear.

Hint: right-click the statue...

Almost nobody I know escaped from Yrvandis via Taffrock. It is possible to do so, just not easy to do solo. What most dwarves do is pick second class (be careful with that, you want something that matches your first class well). Once you do that, you get a transport skill that will let you port out of dwarven area. Make sure you talked to Snoop to unlock Yrvandis transport point before you port out.

When you first pick up the quest to enter Taffrock and defeat the big guy at the end, you become buffed.
The buff expires after about 30 minutes so you really should enter Taffrock and complete the instance there and then. It takes about 20 minutes using the blue-level quest gear from the zone and the buff makes you strong enough to outlast the fight.

However if you're like me, you wander around collecting as many quests as possible at once there and by the time you even start Taffrock, the buff has expired...