Runes of Magic US / AU

W/m

Lol dont listen to that guy. Play warden/warrior or warrior/warden or rougue/mage for dps. You should be able to lvl up using quest gear, but do try to get yourself a decent weapon every 5-10 lvl or so.

Lol w/m is op and simple for lvling

Mage/Priest for diversity, utility, and survivability.

Quoted from "Rukifellth2792"

Mage/Priest for diversity, utility, and survivability.

Mage/priest is excellent for soloing stuff tho you have to stay on your toes cause mages are just squishy.

In short term I would say go mage/priest. In long term if you plan to do end game dps then play one of the combo's I listed.

The first 50 levels won't really present you with too much difficulty and you should manage just fine with most quest rewards and items drops. At level 50, there is a gear-bag waiting for you in Weeping Coast and then another one every 5 levels. After you collect your 65 bag, there are armor sets to collect from quests that are pretty good really. These can be modified using bag stats and Fusion Stones (if you can find them with matching 1 or 2 stats).
You will want to try and get a purple-quality weapon at least and to raise its' tier by 4 or 5 above its' base level.
This two things will allow you to more readily survive and participate in lower levle instances.

End-game armor can be obtained by playing minigames, although the best stuff always comes from inside the endgame instances. (Personally, I'm quite happy with the stuff from the Phirius Shell merchants.)

A crafted weapon will definitely be cheaper than any other, but won't be quite as powerful. However, it will be powerful enough for questing and other things if you're not going to be rushing to play all the end-game content.

As for your classes, I'd recommend Mage/Priest as both use Cloth armor and the survivability is quite convenient. There are other combinations worth trying but why not create a few test characters first and play through 10 or so levels to get a feel for the class and make your own choice. (Warrior can be a bit tricky until you pick a secondary class, so don't dismiss it too quickly.)
Also, pay attention to your species choice as this will affect which classes you can play - there are 10 classes, but only 6 per species.

Wardens are very versatile and independent, hard to go wrong with a Warden. Mages breeze through the early levels but struggle later. Champs are a very strong class. Rogues are well ... rogues...high DPS and dodgy. Druids are the popular healers now, priests have been kinda kicked to the side. And, Scouts are making a comeback.

Any class can make it to level cap with quest gear...but you will want a good weapon, plussed and tiered, and try to keep it at least within 15 levels of your self. i.e. a level 90 toon with a level 75 plussed and tiered weapon can scrape by, but ideally you will want one nearer your level. A lot o f the time you can find upgraded weapons for sale on the AH for the mid-levels (75-90) for not too bad a price. You are probably not going to find any for the lower levels cause most people don't think them worth the unbinder. That is where being in a good guild comes in handy.

The expensive part of the game comes when you want to do PvP or Instance running. That is where you want the top notch gear.