Need help with early game gear

I've never seriously played maplestory, have only ever really gotten to level 30-40 on gms back on v55-v63 era, and I'm noticing my crossbowman (whos level 22) is extremely weak compared to a lot of guys at my level. It feels really crappy and makes me think I chose the wrong class. Or I'm playing the game way incorrectly. With that being said, I think I just came into a lot of money (?) and I was wondering if there was a guide or something to show me what kind of gear I should be focusing towards, whether it be end game, mid game, early game, stuff that will help all classes or just one, what stats certain classes should be looking for... The possibilities seem endless. I haven't even really played these last couple days cause I've been thinking about optimization, risk/reward of gear, whether or not I'm getting SCAMMED for these items or not... Price general guideline guides would be nice to have somewhere!

tl;dr a guide to gearing and figuring out what's worth and not worth the investment.