Newbie Questions

I really don't know where to begin or what to ask so please bare with me

• I just started playing, love it so far and I remember hearing about this years ago but I have to ask, is this game just extremely anti-solo? I'm only level six and I can't even make it out of this cave I'm playing in, whenever I go outside there's a skeleton that just one-shots me and any attempt at exploring the cave I'm inside of just has me dying if I step out any few meters from the makeshift town
• Is Summoner an ok pick, I can't find a whole lot on what classes are or how they play or if they're actually good and useful, I don't even know what I'm doing
• I understand that after level five I'll lose experience and my gear but do I delevel like I did in FFXI? Because when I played that as a kid I could never get out of the starting area because these giant orcs killed me so much I'd go back to being level five
• Are there any reputation or factions in this game, anything fun or interesting to read or follow for a story, I understand its still in Early Access but I like to try and find goals to do as I play, I understand it's inspired by Everquest and other games like Star Wars Galaxy but with everything I liked of those games I played as a kid I felt they were really barebones in the story department compared to WoW and FFXI
• Lastly, what kind of professions should I be taking as a Summoner? I don't even know if I can craft yet lol