Newbie mage questions

[pharo212]

I just started a mage (first char.) and I'm wondering about some things.
I'm not sure which sub-class to go for;
I know that a conjurer would have summons, plus buff and support spells, but would that be enough to fight? I'd hate to have to find a party every time I want to grind, at least until I found a guild. So how good are they at soloing?

On the other hand, warlock sounds like it would be better at fighting, but I'd be less useful in a group or in the WZ. I think they gut a few curses, although I'm not sure (Is there a list of skills somewhere? That would be really helpful.) but I'd be dealing much more damage. I'm just wondering how useful they are in a group?

Any thoughts? If it changes anything, my char is a lvl 7 (as of now) human mage in Alsius.