At about what level would fighting outside the arena be good? 75ish or so? Or does it depend more on race/guild?

Whenever you think you're ready, really.

65-70 is fine to start at, though obviously you'll need higher health than that to take on the heavy hitters.

If you don't ever plan on ever going for Titan or Demi, 80 is a good final goal. Not having to eat or sleep does wonders for whatever hobbies you happen to have.

I started fighting out of novicehood. Just depends on you and what you find enjoyable and what you want to do, really.

Yeah, you don't really need high health to join groups as long as you can spam damage/hinders.

That almost ends up with me being targetted first though. It makes me feel like an ent.

Syntax: FAESUMMON CAERULO
Power: 0
This fae(ling) is masochistic. Although he may manage to throw a couple of hits or bindings in, he usually ends up dead in a few hits, like most regular fae. However, this is more than made up by the fact that he'll return by his own will and at no power cost. When fed commune or guild favours, he'll go into a frenzy and start dying twice as often.

I'm level 45, and I usually charge blindly into group combats with the good people like Daevos or Aiakon or Haiden.

Works wonders for cityfavours, plus I get a reason to yell at Revan for slacking about (which I really shouldn't do anyway.)

You and I are in the same boat...

Fight when you're ready. I've known people at level 40 who can do a decent job of it, and here at near 80 I'm horrible at it. Depends on the person and how much time and effort you can put in to learning, I suppose.

Please do not include Haiden in the company of those two. Hurts my eyes.

Didn't you die a few times to Revan a day or so back? What was that about?

Talkans assessment is most accurate. It depends on you, really. How dedicated you are, how high your guildskills are and what guild you're in are all major factors.

Mages, for example, can make a profound difference in combat stages fairly early on due to melds and boulderblast/hailstorm, while warriors aren't going to be tremendously useful unless they're skilled.

You'll need a fairly high level (65-ish) if you want to take on warriors so you can cover their damage with sparkleberry/healing scroll and cure deepwounds. Otherwise, start whenever you want. I started as a novice and worked my way slowly up, and now I'm a Champion. I had fun every step of the way.