My character seems to have reached a point where all monsters fall into two categories: ones that take half his hp or more in one hit and those that don't damage him at all. Combat would be much more engaging if there was some kind of monster that he did stand a chance of beating but didn't finish the fight with 100% hp every time.
There are also quite a few mobs which he can fight indefinitely as neither he nor the mob are able to damage each other. It always seems a bit weird to run away from a fight like that but there doesn't seem any other way of getting out of them once they're started.

Less of an issue now my original character is on hiatus. But it would be useful if shortcuts were per character instead of per client. Especially considering that different characters know different spells, and shortcuts are by far the most effective way to use magic.

It's mentioned in the "letter from a friend" that you can take up cooking as a profession in Planeshift, and there are even a few quests you can do that seem to be leading to cooking. But I seem to have run out of quests in that line and still no sign of any ability to cook anything.
I have done every available quest from the 4 members of the food association in Hyldaa, and I'm stuck on the second quest in the "rats and recipies" line in Ojaveda because I can't get a trefang tooth (doesn't help that a trefang can kill me with 2 hits).
Does anyone know how to actually get started with cooking?
Once I find out (with or without help) I'd be happy to write a tutorial.