We Need Better Gear!

I have finally reached the level cap in Rift. I hit level 50 early Sunday morning, and my accomplishment was greeted with many cries of “It’s about time.” It would appear that my restrained approach to leveling was not appreciated by those who got there before me! It was also evident that more than a few members felt somewhat gimped by having a GM who was lower level than they are.

Because I have gone a bit slower than some of the others, I have not been involved in the first expert runs that the guild undertook last week. Even though I wasn’t in the runs, I got to hear the frustration of guildies who were battling new content. Not being present, I could only guess at what some of the contributing factors are. As I asked a few involved, it became apparent that most of my guesses were dead on.

My very first guess was the lack of use of crowd control. I just had this gut feeling that crowd control was not being used properly. I also assumed that when it was used, it was being broken to soon by dps or the tank. Reluctantly, a couple of people told me that this might be the case. The runny thing about this is one person swore that CC was being used properly. In fact they pretty much dismissed the suggestion to the alternative altogether.

Remember, I could only formulate my opinion based on what I was hearing, not first hand knowledge. Also, I was not listening to the fights as they occurred. I was only privy to the rumblings after the fact. But one reoccurring statement among the participants clued me in. “We need better gear!” This was the consensus among the those involved. As far as they were concerned no amount of technique would solve the obvious barrier of inadequate gear.

Unfortunately this argument no longer holds water with me. I know better. I know what they really mean when they say they need better gear. They are saying they need the better gear to compensate for poor/undisciplined play. It is the same argument used by the masses in Cataclysm. It is all about over power not finesse.

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when gear will be the deciding factor. Sticking with the WoW model, there was a time when a tank needed 540 defense for raids. In order to be considered a serious tank, your gear needed 540 defense period. But no matter how much defense the tank has, poor mob positioning can wipe a raid. As a side note a good tank could get away with less than 540 defense through proper use of cooldowns and abilities. Finesse goes a lot farther than gear.

The point is, sure you might need 200 hit, 540 defense or whatever. But without proper foundational play, these stats mean nothing. When you are beating your head against a boss, always check your foundational play. Nine times out often that is where the problem lies, it has nothing to do with gear.