Need a recommendation for a no hassles solo&molo class.

I intend to play almost exclusively solo with a journeyman merc.

I'm not necessarily looking for the fastest or most powerful soloing class but I'd like a class with pretty linear and straightforward gameplay. Basically, I want to play something that allows me to sic my pet on a mob and alt-tab for 30 seconds to read the news.

I'm thinking about going either Magician or Beastlord (or Even enchanter if their animation is sufficiently tanky enough. I don't plan on solo charming). Not really interested in necro because they're KOS everywhere.

Well what you describe you want to do is the necro, but you ruled that out.

Magician would probably be the more set and forget between bst/mag

You want a Shadowknight. Most self-sustaining class in the game other than Necro.

Is there a reason why you want to play Everquest then?

There are a lot of games out there that people tell me are fun and much easier to play as far as time commitment.

As someone who tries to not run over other folks while adventuring, there is nothing more annoying than seeing someone at a great spot pulling less than 1/2 the mobs they should be and/or afk for stretches of time. EQ is meant to be actively played.