Question about LnL server

So I've been engulfed in playing the new Zelda game and realized how much I love exploring and getting upgrades and such in a single player game.

But I also have a major love for MMO's and Everquest but as I've grown older I don't have the same time that I used to back in my teen's or early 20's so it really hinders the ability to do a lot of things in MMO's that require other people.

I've read some about the LnL server and how it allows you to do some things completely solo and I was hoping that I might be able to get a few answers.

Can you level on the server or is it instant max?
Is it possible to actually acquire upgrades solo or is the gear you get the best to allow for soloing?
Is it possible to solo raids? And if so is it possible to solo epic weapon quests/Heritage quests like Wurmslayer?
Is the one expansion that brought the ascended classes on the server? Those are one of the things that really demotivate me from even trying normal EQ2 now.

You are level 90 on the server. You then are automatically mentored DOWN to whatever level the zone you are in is set to, in order to make things level-appropriate.

You get incremental upgrades per slot as you kill named mobs. If you have the first tier of boots, and the L&L box drops boots, they will either be first tier boots, or third tier boots in the box. Once you have the third tier for that slot, you get a chance for the fifth tier (or something for another slot). You can also examine the item to get the recipe to upgrade the item from the current tier to the next tier, but most people don't bother with the in-between upgrades, and instead just aim for more drops.

Some classes plus merc can readily solo raid mobs, some struggle more even with the buff. Mileage varies, but you "should" be able to with the current buff package on there.

No, it is not. The server goes to Velious at level 90, no further. Kunark Ascending and ascension abilities are a few expansions beyond that.

You can choose to not take the Level 90 boost as a tradeskiller. My first KD character didn't know that, and started doing the usual tradeskill quests from scratch. AND once you start that, you can not go back and get boosted to level 90; you're stuck with the full journey with that character doing the tradeskills.

That must have changed because I got to level 12 and then found out how to get to level 90...unless you were over 20 and that is the problem!

It may be possible to talk to the tradeskill counsellor and reset yourself back to where you can talk to the guy in Great Divide to boost yourself to 90 also. I, too, worked myself up to about 15 with the original way before I found out about the tradeskill boost guy in Great Divide.