Since it sounds like you have a lot of different ideas, I would consult this guide to figure out what class to play:
http://wiki.project1999.com/Players:Newbie
Druid is a solid choice. They are excellent at leveling quickly solo because they can charm animals. Charming is the fastest method of soloing outside of bard AoE kiting, so any class that can charm (druid, necro, enchanter) is an extremely efficient solo EXPer.
Once you hit 60, druids are not so good at soloing difficult camps. I don't know if this is a goal of yours. When people talk about wanting to solo on a class, or how good a class is at soloing, they're often talking about just one of two very different skill sets: solo EXPing from 1 to 60, and then soloing challenging cash camps at level 60. Druids are great at the former; not so great at the latter (although they are extremely strong power levelers, and this makes them effective money earners).
Don't count on doing any meleeing on your druid after level 12. If you want to solo, you're probably not going to be doing much meleeing. Meleeing is not an effective means of soloing unless you're a rogue or a monk or something with crazy expensive gear, or if you're a shaman in his lower to mid levels... although shamans are rather poor and slow soloers until later in the game.