Hey mates,
I used to be somewhat of a hardcore L2 player in the past up until the point I quit in 2012.
Though the game does feel overwhelming with the vast array of items/upgrades being locked behind a paywall and/or an insurmountable amount of Adena, it does a feel a lot easier than it used to be.
I started playing again a month+ ago, sadly right after the XP event. I am now 107+ on 2 chars and 106 on iss.
Still relatively basic gear exalted tier 2, some cheap agathion +4/+5, Enhanced Shadow stormer on the dreadnought, ring of creation and almost all the Special skills that require runes.
I started almost from zero and I did not get a prestige sub until free VP week was over. I backtracked a lot, researched for many days while trying to get my bearings with the game. I started with different toons reached 103 and then I rerolled and if I knew all the things I know now from day one I am sure I would have reached even higher.
My setup is mainly the reason I can do almost every instanced zone with my 3 toon group. I went for Dreadnought + Feoh StormScreamer + Dominator/Hierophant.