So I've been playing DG about a week now. It was a bit of a rocky start (one toon got stuck in Rahu). Pretty much all I have been doing was working on NPC Favors, mostly related to either Storage or Skill access. And that’s where most of my councils have gone as well. At this point, I am getting a little frustrated and could use some general advice on a few topics. Sorry for the wall of text!

Skills
I working on 4 skills (Unarmed, Sword, Fire, Archery). They are all about level 12 or 13. I'd like to get those 4 up to twenty, at which point I will pick two that seem the most fun to combo with.

I want to build a sustainable solo build, that with a little modification, could be used for group play as well. Mostly though, I'm a solo player and prefer ranged battles rather than melee.

Q1: Maybe there is a better set of combos better suited to my play style?


Armor
Very frustrated by the Armor drops/selection. Not seeing decent drops for my current skills at all. They all want level 10 or 15 skills that I don't have. I've viewed the "used" selection at the Weapon vendors stall and having the same issues. Right now my armor is so sucky that dealing with mobs with more then 90 health is hard.

Q1: How do the loot tables determine what drops, anyways?
Q2: Is it based on the active skill, or what?


Councils - Need Better Supply for RIGHT NOW
I viewed the player work order board, and it's not newbie friendly at all. Based on how often I pick up something now, even the easy ones would take me weeks to fill. I've just started surveying but am guessing it's going to be at least a couple of weeks before it pays off. Got about 1k Councils and training to do.

Q1: Any newbie friendly suggestions?


Amethyst
Also I desperately need Amethyst, which haven't dropped once in Serbule. They are going for 500-900 councils right now. Drop info isn’t on the Wiki, though the Wiki does say I need Survey level 15 to create Blue Mineral Surveys, which does drop them.

Q1: What's the best way to farm for Amethyst after the starter Island? If the answer is grind Surveys until I can mine them, so be it, I just want to know if there are other options.

Summary: I realize that these questions are probably very typical for new players. If some of these items have been answered recently, I’m sorry.