New bard gear and leveling

[Mcbard]

I think the best starter equipment is probably going to be banded or bronze, although if your strength is really low that could be a problem. Once you get higher level you can start questing some Lambent which will tide you over until you get planar loot. When I was starting I found a druid kind enough to make me a full set of banded at cost which was about 30pp if I remember correctly, and I wore that until I had all of my lambent in my 30s. A Polished Granite Tomahawk is a nice started weapon to have, as are some of the cheaper maces (EBM/Cold iron morning star).

Edit: I should probably address your second question. IMO getting your second dot at 18 by leveling in Oasis or HHP if you can is crucial. When you get 18 and a little buffer you should begin trying to AE kite gnolls and Gorge Hounds in EK until around 25. Once you learn how to ae kite you should have no problem pulling down a level about every 1.5hours there. Around 25 or 26 some people continue ae kiting aviaks and centaurs in SK, but in my experiences unless you can play at the weirdest hours of the day they're so overcamped it's not worth it. You may want to try an HHK group or a SolA group if you don't want to go the solo route at those levels.