Good questions! The best way to get such questions answered is to ask in the newcomer's forum, or in-game. If you find a guild that specializes in welcoming new players, they can be a great resource. In most cases, you'll want the 5 evades over 10AC or 3aad. PvP is a lot more fun twinked, and that's probably not going to change. The uber-twinks tend to also be the most experienced, skilled PvPers, and no new player is going to stand a chance unfortunately. However, there are still ways to help out if paid - mech up, basically.
As to the how to equip a toon decently while leveling:
http://www.ao-universe.com/index.php...ides%2F&pid=45 . Find a friendly fixer to buff you with GSF first - it's a lot of running. This mission sequence is tedious, time consuming, produces a product with high in-game market value (the basic armor is need to make alien armor), and is by far the best way for a new player to make money. Farm a complete set of basic armor (not including the back piece, which is useless), use the shopping channel to offer it and you should at minimum get 10m for the set - usually more.