Dont bother with buying the Darkwood shield, the STR bonus you get from it will not be worth anything til a bit later when you easily can loot it yourself (around lv 22) After that you'll be able to afford a decent 2-hander (Argent Defender etc). The permafrost entrance is solable from lv 15 and mobs there ocassionally drops ore worth 50pp, so you should be able to save up 1k plat at least before you hit 20.
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