Simple Questions, Simple Answers

[Ingrum]

Don't apologize, EQ's game mechanics are pretty confusing when you peel away the layers.

The general consensus is to not think of hitting a mob as a chance to actually connect. In fact, you connect every single time but if you aren't seeing a lot of damage output it's because you are hitting for 0. Your strength and weapon skill boost your ATK, which in turn determines your ability to penetrate your target's AC and how much damage you do when you penetrate it. Obviously, higher is better.

In other words, agility has theoretically nothing to do with it, but your strength and weapon skill do.

Edit: Source: Discussion here about to hit chances. I guess the whole subject is still debatable, but this seems to be the most logical answer based on limited legitimate study and observation.
http://www.project1999.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=40456

As to your second question, I don't know if there actually is a way to bind the Esc key to something other than its default. I conducted a brief google search and couldn't find anything to shed light on the situation after the first page. You may have to dig deeper yourself for a concrete answer.