I'm new. Yes, new. Please enlighten me.

[Scrape]

Going a bit further about that which adeyke stated (or perhaps just wording it differently), regardless of whether a rare, set, or unique item has sockets or is ethereal, it will still retain its rare, set, or unique color (yellow, green & gold respectively).

Certain set and unique items have a pre-fixed number of sockets. For rare items, it will be random as one of the attributes.

Whether or not an item (regardless of its form) is ethereal is strictly random.

Since you do not really play online, you do not have to worry about trading for set and unique items that do not normally have sockets, but do have a socket(s) from the socket quest in the last act.

As for your first bit on finding the right character, it is understandably a common thing. Many players go through a process of finding the characters they enjoy, from different skill points to different item setups. Some players might just like to try low-level combinations, and others are in it for a longer run.

This is one of the great things about the game; there is plenty of versatility when it comes to customizing one's characters (and playing in general).

Good luck, as it goes.