At low level it does not really matter much about gear it matter but not a great lot. The more you go on the more gear matter is the more you have to buy gear for your level.
K, well you kinda just proved my point. If gear isn't a big factor at low levels, then I shouldn't have had any issues soloing at low levels, yet I did. It's insanely slow and requires rest between every couple of battles unless you are fighting stuff so low that it just doesn't matter, and in that case the exp rewards are crap.