Ok, there aint much to say as its a grinding based map.. 1. You can push you're damage mainly by items. I dont recall an alternative route. Stat boost is helpful but not giving you that amazing boost.
2. You should level on either first chaotic creeps, Demons of some kind (Demon guard skin) or simply ask to be powerlevelled until good enough for solo.
3. What you should do, is follow some high level player willing to help you. Gain levels and take most of the loot. Yes, the crit looks good BUT it renders soon useless when you have to compare wether you do 1mil damage every 2nd shot or 350k damage every shot.
Other than that, soloing ability renders from class to class. So far, i've seen PR still being the best soloers in the game.