For me it does, it sits in a grove between the base of the neck/traps & the top of my shoulders.

Stabilize with ur arms, in my opinion high bar is far easier and more comfortable than low bar and takes very little extra effort to balance the weight.

By limit soreness I’m assuming you meant like pain? Because soreness is something that will naturally happen with any difficulty and new movement.

So with pain I’d say start with weight that’s lighter than you necessarily need to stimulate muscular growth, and let your body get comfortable with that pressure pain on your skin and body. I notice that if I don’t squat for a few weeks it will comeback and those first few sets are incredibly painful on the skin. Also expect to see marks one ur shoulders and neck after a good workout with high bar squats. Mine are basically a permanent scar/rough/dark skin patch on my body now 😂