Need a litte help with a few things

I'm pretty new at this game altogether, and even newer at the Necromancer profession. I plan on eventually going with an MM build. Right now I am N/E but since I am pretty new I've been hearing that N/Mo is easier. Also I seem to have a recurring problem with every character I have played; I make it to post Searing then get stuck. I can't seem to do much of anything, unless I run with 2-3 henchmen (Healer, Fighter, and sometimes Ranger). So here goes all my questions:

Would it be easier to start out with N/Mo?
What skills are good to use until I get everything I need for MM?
Should I quest or grind for EXP?
What areas are good to grind at for what levels?

I understand with this game it's alot of "play what your comfortable with". But so far that hasn't been anything. So please don't post with "play what you want" I am doing that, I just want to see what others have found useful to try and incorporate some of that into what I'm doing.

First, I would suggest taking a look at a couple of threads on this very fisrt page, since there's a lot of information there already.

Now, to answer your question, I would really suggest N/Mo if you're just starting out, especially as an MM, since it is easier to run. Heal Area is a skill you get very early in the game, and will help you maintain minions until you get some additional skills needed for MM in the late game (Verata's Sacrifice, Blood of the Master). After that, you can continue going N/Mo, or switch to various other MM builds that work just as fine in my opinion. Not gonna get into that though since theres already an 8 page thread on it going.

If you prefer going with something more complete in the early game, I suggest Blood. Lots of direct damage through life steals that keep you alive. You could possibly do this to grind for some XP, solo in some areas, or with a Monk henchie in others. I did it to level up a bit and practice with my Necro (1st char) in Dragon's Gullet.

But also, you gotta remember that the game isn't meant for you to be able to solo everything, unless it's some especific area with a especific build. So it's expected that you use henchies or other players to get things done. That's why I guess the best thing to do for XP early on is really just doing the quests and missions, since it's faster and less tedious in my opinion than just grinding the same area. I'm on my 5th character now and I still do all the Ascalon/Shiverpeaks quests to get to at least 14+, afterwhich I could hold my own in higher level areas, and level 20 came in no time.

Thanks much for clearing things up. I'm kind of used to the way other online games play.

I have only played Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, and World of Warcraft, extensively that is. So I'm used to the way they play, which is to say I soloed EVERYTHING except Instances in WoW and Darkness Falls and world bosses in DAoC. So that ectually helps quite a bit. I thought this was going to be kind of like them, solo everything and only join a group or even a guild when you needed numbers in PvP.

Thanks a ton for the help and not just a simple "play what you want" or "figure it out on your own is the best way to learn" post. I know I'll end up playing what I like and that experience is the best teacher, but pointers never hurt.