Why so complicated ~

[Reinauer]

I joined AoC for its lack of number-crunching and its dynamic combat system. I'm the kind of person who understands progression but doesn't feel the need to (for lack of a better descrip) reference a spread-sheet to see if I'm suitable for T3 or above. And then have to "apply" for a raid over T2 .. huh-rumph!

Over the last few years; all of this talk of needing "protection" gear vs. other gear (DPS, etc) has become a sore subj with me. Why shouldn't someone in T2 gear be able to move on to T3 with no problem and so on and so forth? Why does a player need to roll over to Khitia and do 6-mans or align with a faction to get gear to get into T4? Why not make the T3 gear suitable to roll into T4 and so on ... ?


.

[Halfdead]

All depends on the class really.


The great thing about this game is there has always been a choice of what you can do for gear. You are not required to follow a linear path. Its just sad though that a majority find that the game ends at BRC.

[Riamis]

Lol

I do T4 with T1/T2 set

[MisterClean]

AoC doesnt create barriers, it just makes it harder for low geared people. Especially tanks.

People create their own barriers. People think that this or that is not doable, most of the time it is due to a lack of knowledge. Sometimes, it's just laziness. And its perfectly understandable, who want to have a hard time and go slow when you could stomp anything with a better gear?

[Chillee]

Depends on your role. You can do almost anything in T4 with less than optimal gear. If you're a dps class, you can get your protection up with build and accessories. But in some cases, like if you're maintanking the imp in T2 gear, you're more of a hindrance to a raid than a help. The AA heals can also be a big help to a raid so khitai gear for healers and tanks is a big help to the raid, and aren't difficult to get geared up in a short amount of time.

If you look in the inventory of a tank who's been through all the tiers of raiding, you'll see multiple sets of armor and accessories. AOC isn't the most complicated of games, but protection has been a big deal since T3 and crit/critigation has been important since ROTG came out 5 years ago.

[Skavenaps]

Lol

I do T4 with T1/T2 set

i also do it with nonkithai blues (old world 80 ones), ofc.. i get carried by my guild.

[CueQue]

The only problem i see is that khitai gear can't progress through t4 because there is no prot gear!

With the current LL gear you get below 20%, no critt, no dps, nothing. Compared to both LL, both melee and prot, then to t3.. It's a huge difference

[Khaletohep]

Equipment is important for tanks, but at least for T4, it's not as important as some people think. With a set of epic Kithai gear and the quest cloak and necklace from T3, you're pretty much set for all classes except soldiers.

Soldiers, however, don't need all that much more. The first three bosses don't crit, so you don't need any critigation at all. They don't even hit all that hard. I've never seen anybody do them in T2, and I never want to, but I suppose it would be possible (with quite a lot of pain, though). The greater problem will be hate generation - it might be possible to tank e. g. Sheng in T2 gear, but it will be very hard to make the damage dealers scale back their damage/hate accordingly.

Anyhow... protection gear is needed from Emperor onwards, who is, in my view, the first encounter resembling a straight gear check for tanks in T4. But at least if you start with a new raid, you'll probably have several small T4 protection pieces, which are really great.

With a DT, I started to tank the Emperor in Black Dragon gear - which I didn't get aggro with. So I switched to Tiger epics and T3/Brittle Blade protection accessoires, which worked pretty well. You're not all that tough, but one cannot the Emperor for all that long anyhow. If one can withstand five or four hits isn't that important in the end; aggro should be switched after the third hit anyhow.

We have a "new" guardian in Kithai gear with us, and that works very well. Gear isn't everything - if you have talent, motivation, at least somewhat useful equipment, a high frustration tolerance and a friendly tank team, that's all that is needed.

[Unutterable]

I think OP is wanting there to be a distinct best-in-slot set for all classes, one set that trumps all other in everything, to simplify the game. I personally prefer having different armor sets, but to each their own I guess.

[LunaticAsylumLA]

I love that this game offers you flexibility with several sets and their combinations to suit the needs of a particular raid or group.
I have DPS, PVP, protection, physical, and class-specific (such as Wisdom gear for DT or strength gear for HoX) gear sets on some, if not all, characters. Sometimes, we have to mix those, and the flexibility makes the game shine!
If you ask why "the complication" is there, then the answer is that this game is the only one on the market that is worth playing. Other games make you follow a blue-ribbon road, push buttons for you, and give out rewards for completing tutorials: in other words, boring.