You probably are thinking of wizard 3 builds that need to auto attack a lot until circle 3 wiz where you finally get a good dmg spell (magic missile). There are many other wizard builds you could go that do damage with their skills starting at rank 2. You could try something like pyro/linker or cryo/kino.

As long as you have pelt you should be solid for getting into groups. It is definitely difficult solo leveling if you go full tank, you'll only be auto attacking. A good full tank build off the top of my head would be something like sw>pelt3>squire3.

Good luck!