[thufir]

My shadowknight was my first character and also my main. I have never felt the pinch of not being able to afford decent gear, and don't regret rolling a shadowknight as my first character, at all. Phacemeltar is probably right that you should roll an ogre if you do, though. Being an ogre is like being issued a special equipment slot at game start with an item that grants you +50 sta, +50 str, and frontal stun immunity. It's pretty ridiculous.

I did get some charity when I was starting out - some random guy gave me a Nathsar Greatsword in Nektulos Forest when I was level 8. (Thanks, random guy from 2 years ago!) But it wasn't difficult to find extra cash from there to afford things like bronze and banded (bronze is just fine if you are an ogre). And a Nathsar Greatsword really isn't that much money, anyway. A little patience farming up decaying skeletons and selling the bone chips in ec tunnel would let you afford one soon enough.

As was said above, knight classes can hold aggro without any special gear, and bronze and banded are cheap, easy to buy, and will tide you over AC-wise until you can get better stuff, many levels later. I was farming the divine aura idols in Highpass for awhile when I decided I finally needed to buy myself a few upgrades. So, yeah, if you decide to go that route don't worry so much about being poor or ill-equipped. Shadowknights are less gear-dependent and better at soloing up some money than most people give them credit for.