Hey
and welcome back to LS.
The transmuting chart is quite outdated, it's an okay guideline to follow but most of the rankings are inaccurate, really you want to be looking in-game on the Transmuting box where it says "Minimum To Skill Up".
My advice is to stay as close to your minimum as possible - this is your fastest exp/hr.
As far as your strategy for solo'ing, IMO, it is always more fun to unlock new characters and MQ versus staying at a certain level to farm.
More MQ attempts provides you with more stat points and more proficiency so, even if gaining GPs isn't your thing, you are progressing in the game with proficiency and unlocking better classes.
Your gear is pretty decent starting out.. it seems like you have the right idea, however, going 100 vit is probably a bit too much. I wouldn't exceed 50vit especially if you have some life regen to swap or fishes to eat up.
A few other things you can try are, typing /set easy 1 into the chat box if you are unaware of that. It's great to turn on when you are walking over recently explored tiles in the catacombs.
For abilities, when I solo/melee I go Doublestrike, Salvation and I dump 1 point into Powerstrike to save for EP waves. But everyone plays differently, so feel free to explore strategies and follow advice from other peeps

Lmk if you have any other questions here or via PM.
This post was edited by JonWon on Jul 1 2021 06:37am