Best unfunded class?

[Jimjam]

Define best?

If you enjoy challenges, I'd suggest warrior. I've done a couple of unfunded warriors and I've enjoyed hunting for those few items which will 'get you by'. I remember saving up enough for a combine two handed sword on Jimjam and going nuts on willowisps from 12-17. I ended up with enough plat from handing in greater light stones to buy a full set of vendor bought plate in Kaladim! I then hit up highpass and kurn's tower to get an iksar berserkers club and polished granite tomahawk. These worked well enough in groups to get me to a level where I could travel Norrath and quest out a full set of crafted armour from the Karana centaurs.

I also discovered there were decent aggro weapons that were the side product to the rogue epic, which I was able to scrounge. All in all it was a great experience gearing and levelling a warrior from scratch without outside funding nor using EC to self twink.

However, if you mean 'best' as in most powerful with least effort or funds then I suggest magician is a really good shout. If you're willing to work hard then Druid, necromancer, enchanter or hard can all be pretty fearsome.

Honestly though, the need for funds/equipment is pretty overstated. Keep your key skills up, stick to the most important spells and if melee buy a 1:2 ratio weapon for 40pp and have enough AC to mitigate against mobs 5 levels below you and you're running at 80% efficiency of a character with a few k pumped into it.