New player advice?

[JerseyFresh609]

I'm new to P99 certainly not new to EQ. I played off and on from 99 to 08 or so. I've played a paladin, bard, shadowknight and shaman in high end content (Raiding from Luclin to SoD) with some experience with many other classes as well. I played on the Povar server as Rathkin, Noprintz, Bradaic, Donne... would be awesome if I found someone I used to know. Anyway to the point, I have minimal experience in classic, at least on the high end (I think I only played to level 30 or so during classic before quitting and later retuning during PoP). I'm just looking for any general advice regarding classes, where to xp, gear to search out, etc..
I've currently started both a paladin and a shaman. The shaman I plan to level as a duo with a friend of mine who used to play as well, him being with some kind of melee. I'm thinking a warrior would be best because then we would have tanking, dps, heals and some root CC. Perhaps someone could suggest a better duo?
The paladin is the one I'm looking to play when we can't play together. My main concern right now is the xp penalty. Is it really 40%!? Like I only xp at 60% the rate of a normal character? I'm concerned I don't have the patience for that. I took the boat over from BB to FP assuming that that is a better area for me to level and acquire gear in. Luckily the player base so far has been VERY friendly as a few people have already given me some starting gear and plat upon noticing I was new. I'm wondering if I should continue with this or scrap it and go with a class I haven't played before such as a monk that will level much faster. Anyway, just looking for some input and maybe find someone who would like to play some lowbies with me. I can usually be on from 4pm to 10pm EST and occasionally I can be on during the day while I'm at work, though in a limited capacity. Thanks in advance!