Guild Wars 2

I played this game when it first started (in 2012?) for a few months and have not touched it since. I remembered having some really fun wvw battles and am thinking of reinstalling the game for wvw. If I recall, I had a max level war, ele and thief. I did not purchase any of the expansions.

I was hoping to get some answers to the following (all my questions relate purely to wvw):

1. Do I need to purchase the expansion?

2. Is there a need to level up characters for wvw? I sort of recalled that it was possible to bring in any characters into wvw, but can’t remember whether under-leveled characters hit like wet noodles in wvw? Anyway, did the level cap increase since launch?

3. Is there any need to farm gear or even worse, enchants (like in wow)? I remembered you get max gear for pvp but am not sure for wvw. If there is a need, how difficult is it to get the basic set to be useful in battle?

4. What are the most viable pvp classes now (in group and going solo)?

5. Is TC dead? Which are the servers that are still active SEA primetime (night)?

Thanks in advance.