As always, I love to hear questions, suggestions, insights, and whatnot from you guys. Perhaps you'd just like to get a more experienced players' take on your equipment? Don't be shy... please post in the Items and Equipment forum and let's discuss! For starters, let's look at how armor is described in EverQuest 2.

You'll hear veteran players describe "tiers" of armor... tier 1, T1 all the way up to tier 7 or T7. It's simply an unofficial way to describe a level range in which armor or jewelry is best equipped, or adventuring zones attempted, etc. The player-made tier system isn't very confusing if you're one of those people who (unlike me) can easily understand why the 1800s were considered the 19th century. What I mean by this: tier 1 refers to levels 1 (theoretically level 1, though everyone starts at level 3) through 9, tier 2 is level 10-19, and so on. :


Exhibit 1 - Describing Armor by Level Range

Tiers Level Ranges

Tier 1 Levels 3 -9
Tier 2 Levels 10 -19
Tier 3 Levels 20 - 29
Tier 4 Levels 30 - 39
Tier 5 Levels 40 - 49
Tier 6 Levels 50 - 60
Tier 7 Levels 60 - 70


Tiers are the unofficial way to describe the suitability of a piece of armor level-wise. Archetype-wise, armor's adequacy for you is described in terms of material. While there's exceptions to every rule (e.g. - most fighters can wear plate, but monks are stuck with cloth or leather armor), I've tried to break down the armor types by class. As a rule of thumb, always go with the best armor you can wear unless great stats justify a lesser choice.


Exhibit 2 - Describing Armor by Type or Class

Armor Type Used to be called... For classes... Damage Absorption Factor
Cloth Armor ("Very Light" Armor) All mages. Negligable Mitigation
Leather Armor ("Light" Armor) Some priests (druids) and some fighters (monks). Some Mitigation
Chain Armor ("Medium" Armor) All scouts and some priests (shaman). More Mitigation
Plate Armor ("Heavy" Armor) Most fighters and some priests (clerics). Most Mitigation


A final way of describing armor is by its rarity. Confusingly termed "tiers" by EQ2 devs since launch (there used to be 9 "tiers" that described rarity, believe it or not), the following adjectives are used in-game to describe how easy it is to find or craft armor and other equipment:


Exhibit 3 - Describing Armor by Rarity

Common: Nothing special about these, sell common items to NPC vendors.

Handcrafted: Player-crafted items, usually from common components, or low-quality corpse loot.

Treasured: The first item dropped in a "treasure chest" when you kill a mob. Might be useful / valuable.

Legendary: Oftentimes these items are obtained as the result of a lengthy quest (i.e. Heritage Quests). Usually valuable and useful.

Fabled: Extremely rare items obtained through raiding epic mobs and hardcore progressive questing. Not to be confused with "fabled" corpse loot, true fabled items drop in the large metallic "master" chests.

Mythical: These items are few and far between. Mythical items are coveted by even the most experienced adventurers.


Mitigation vs. Avoidance
A long-running debate between players and a constant concern for game designers, the role (and relative strength of) mitigation and avoidance has been a source of constant strife long before the vast reforms delivered in September's Live Update #13. Before you can understand the argument, I hope you'll tolerate a bit of explanation of the terms involved.

It would be kind of strange to hand someone a full suit of hardened steel plate armor, have then put it on, and expect them to dodge damage like Jackie Chan. Put them in padded leather with agility enhancement, however, and if they've got the mojo for it we could some martial arts action! The same goes for armor in EverQuest 2. If you put your character in heavy armor (assuming he / she can wear "plate"), you'll have all the lithe gracefullness of a damp gas station garbage bag and will get hit more often as a result. More often, but for an aggregate total of less damage than you might receive without that expensive tin foil get-up.

Now, on the other side of the spectrum you'll have your monk (the monkie kung-fu artists) and scout classes. Jack-be-nimble is part of their routine, and it wouldn't be right for them to be plastered head to foot with plate vambraces, gauntlets, gussets, cuirasses and the like. So God created what used to be called "medium armor" and is now (usually) has leather in its title, like "stinking rotten leather jerkin" or some such thing. Most of the time (but not always) lighter armor offers a boost to AGI (with equals more avoidance) but not always. It's important to understand that lighter armor (on its own, without stat boosts) doesn't equal more avoidance. For this example, we'll assume our rotten jerkin does, and because it allows players to move like greased white lightning on an icey lake, they won't get hit nearly as much as our aforementioned "meatshield" friends. However, when they are hit it's going to hurt worse, probably a lot worse.

Not to make too fine a point of it, but consider one last analogy if i haven't made much sense yet. Say you and I lined up across the battlefield from one another. Your objective is to grab the $300M powerball jackpot sitting behind me and come punch me on the nose for what I said about your mama, and to stop you I've got me a machine gun and a howitzer (muhaha!). Since I'm not completely devious I give you a heavy, fairly motion-restrictive kevlar composite suit that so advanced it'll give you a backrub and make you coffee, and in addition to that it will stop every bullet that I fire and only pass the tiniest fraction of the bullet's kinetic force on to you inside the suit. You can opt to wear it, or just make yourself a caffe americano and skamper in your skivvies. For the first run, I'll be firing the machine gun, and assuming you're still around for the second, the howitzer. Would you wear the suit, i.e. prefer damage "mitigation," for the first run? I would. You might get pretty banged up, but nothing like you'd be if you caught a bullet with your nekkid bellybutton. For the second run, its in your favor that I can't load the cannon very quickly, but when I do aim and fire, it's hell's bells. For the second run, it might be wise to skip the suit and side with damage "avoidance." With a slower rate of fire, coupling the fact that you're somewhat more likely to eat an artillery shell in the suit (the shell doesn't mind if you're in a suit or not), the law of averages seems to side with the avoidance approach.

The analogy isn't perfect since many of the tougher mobs you find in EQ2 are firing both machine guns (melee damage) and howitzers (special abilities / spells), which is why tanks (with their high mitigation and stamina / healthpoint factors) are the best choice to take the brunt of the damage. But, I hope the illustration helps to explain the difference between mitigation and avoidance. For the longest time, scout and monk avoidance seemed to be too strong, then a set of reforms made a fighter's mitigation too powerful to some. With the combat changes, hopefully we've obtained a balance acceptable to everyone. Future changes will likely be made to a mob's atributes, not the mitigation / avoidance system or armor per se.

Which is right for you? If you're not a mage, both. The best approach for soloing non-mages is to build mitigation up as high as possible, next build up your primary stats, and finally begin working on avoidance by strengthening your AGI attribute (see the "Stats" discussion below). If you're a mage, you'd better decide early on not to get hit much or often! Seriously though, someone (I wish I could remember who, so I could credit him / her!) likened cloth armor to wearing a "wet paper bag." The only way to go for mages is to build avoidance, and even that comes a distant second to building INT and power stats to improve your casting as much as possible.


Enemy of the Stats
It's sometimes difficult to decide between the best armor and the best stats when the two paradigms don't match up. In the end, your equipment is all about how much or little damage you predict you'll receive- stats do dead adventurers no good. If you group often and are typically a back-row caster, can field a pet, or are a master of the old-school root-and-nuke approach it's pretty much all about the stats. Any other player should pay some degree of attention to defense while establishing a solid competency in their primary attributes.
What is a class's primary attribute and what does it do? A primary attribute determines the maximum amount of power or mana a player has available and usually has much to do with the effectiveness of a player's combat arts or spells. After defense, it's important to keep building up your primary attribute to a nice fat number. What exactly that number is is anyone's guess.
What's your primary attribute? Here's my best guess, feel free to correct me if you know better!


Exhibit 4 - Primary Attributes

Attribute Level Ranges
INT All mages, Priest/Bard/SK secondary attribute
WIS All priests, Paladin/SK secondary attribute
AGI All scouts, Bruiser secondary attribute
AGI, STA, & STR Fighters share equally (with emphasis on STA or AGI depending on mitigation)


It's important to understand that primary stats will oftentimes determine the suitability of armor. For example, there's a lot of plate armor out there that only offers a boost to WIS; this isn't the kind of armor you want your tank in, but it's great for clerics.
Also, don't wear armor without stats, especially after level 20 (unless you're just trying to look good)! It's vendor junk, sell it. I highly recommend working on the post-level 20 armor quests since early adventurers don't have a lot of coin. Here's some links (these are from various class guides but are not class-specific; within each armor type the quest is the same):


Exhibit 5 - The Armor Quests (AQs)
Cloth Armor
Leather Armor
Chain Armor
Plate Armor Refuse... Resist!


So far we've only been talking about absorbing and avoiding physical damage. In fact, there's many different types of damage in the game besides physical (or "base") damage:

Exhibit 6 - Types of Damage in EverQuest 2
Arcane Damage
Divine
Mental
Magic
Elemental Damage
Heat
Cold
Noxious Damage
Poison
Disease
Trauma Damage


Don't worry, you don't have to worry about mitigating / avoiding all these types of damage. Unless you're doing high-level raids on epic mobs that are known to use certain kinds of damage, there's little reason to build up your resistance specifically to any of these damage types. Your self-buffs, group buffs, jewelry, character trait choices, etc. will provide enough resistance to keep your character happy. I mention other damage types here just to say that you can't go wrong if you use your every 10 level trait choices to balance out your resistances (press "P" to open the persona window to check your resistance, avoidance, etc. - and this is a good time to point out that mousing-over the resistance / avoidance / mitigation numbers will show you percentages of damage you'll avoid or absorb).


Examining Your Way to Better Armor
If nothing else, take some time and go to a heavily trafficked area (like Qeynos Harbor or East Freeport) and do some people watching. Find adventurers that play your class and right click -> examine them to see what they're wearing. They won't know you're checking them out; we'll make an equipment voyeur out of you yet! Also, watch the channels for your level, and be sure to check out the Forums. Even if they're much higher in level than you, it'll give you a pretty good idea what to work toward in the future.


Repair Soon and Repair Often!
In closing, one word of caution. It's extremely important to keep your equipment in good repair. You can do so by visiting a mender; there are many located throughout the world, but you can stop by the Armor shop in the northwest portion of East Freeport, a building in the northeast part of Qeynos harbor, or Nektulos Forest / Thundering Steppes docks to find your friendly neighborhood armorer. You don't want to get resurrected naked because your armor's worn to pieces, now do you? Also, while expensive, a good repair kit can save the day in a long raid. Relic Armor!


So you've made it to the high end raiding areas. These zones have a chance to drop armor blanks specifically designed for each class. The only complete list I could find was thanks to the wonderful EQ2 Traders site, so I've done my best to replicate it here. You will take this blank, and the stones listed to Keortor Talyse in Solusek's Eye. (also see Claymore Timeline and Blood of the Brood quests)


Fighter Classes - appropriate Relic piece plus:
o Chest: 3 Pristine Moonstones
o Legs: 3 Exquisite Emeralds
o Shoulders: 3 Exquisite Malachites
o Forearms: 3 Exquisite Onyx
o Head: 3 Exquisite Opals
o Hands: 3 Exquisite Peridots
o Feet: 3 Exquisite Pearls


Mage Classes - appropriate Relic Silk piece plus:
o Chest Piece - 3 Pristine Chrysoberyls
o Legs - 3 Immaculate Bloodstones
o Shoulders - 3 Immaculate Nephrites
o Forearms - 3 Immaculate Gold Beryls
o Head - 3 Immaculate Sapphires
o Hands - 3 Immaculate Garnets
o Feet - 3 Immaculate Amethysts


Scout Classes - appropriate Relic piece plus:
o Chest: 3 Pristine Ruby
o Legs: 3 Flawless Azurite
o Shoulders: 3 Flawless Rose Quartz
o Forearms: 3 Flawless Turquoise
o Head: 3 Flawless Amber
o Hands: Flawless Red Beryl
o Feet: 3 Flawless Jade


Priest Classes - appropriate Relic piece plus:
o Chest: 3 Pristine Obsidians
o Legs: Refined Black Pearls
o Shoulders: 3 Refined Adamantines
o Forearms: 3 Refined Quartz
o Head: 3 Refined Aquamarines
o Hands: 3 Refined Topaz
o Feet: 3 Refined Rubies



Relic Links
Relic Leather Feet
Brawler: \aITEM 1169678829 -975533002:Crescent Moon Boots\/a
Druid: \aITEM 180005656 -1323758596:Stormwrath Boots\/a


Relic Leather Legs
Monk: \aITEM -1098237941 1055348176:Crescent Moon Pants\/a
Bruiser: \aITEM -170850197 -2130554338:Pants of the Renegade\/a
Fury: \aITEM -1866046714 -537569926:Stormwrath Leggings\/a
Warden: \aITEM -9234885 376131124:Elder's Leggings of Nature\/a


Relic Leather Torso
Monk: \aITEM 1990861435 -154710112:Crescent Moon Tunic\/a
Bruiser: \aITEM -2091235806 -142009257:Tunic of the Renegade\/a
Fury: \aITEM 967272590 -2113615766:Stormwrath Tunic\/a
Warden: \aITEM -764783511 -1590825663:Elder's Tunic of Nature\/a


Relic Leather Shoulders
Brawler: \aITEM 811446228 1601674381:Crescent Moon Shoulder Pads\/a
Druid: \aITEM 26231691 1653487899:Stormwrath Shoulder Pads\/a


Relic Leather Forearms
Brawler: \aITEM -1063124521 -243242343:Crescent Moon Wristguards\/a
Druid: \aITEM 504552373 1966455469:Stormwrath Wristguards\/a


Relic Leather Hands
Brawler: \aITEM 528712568 235070793:Crescent Moon Gloves\/a
Druid: \aITEM -769947487 1975979360:Stormwrath Gloves\/a


Relic Leather Head
Brawler: \aITEM 1808881222 157123608:Crescent Moon Skullcap\/a
Druid: \aITEM -1392952320 -473298308:Stormwrath Skullcap\/a



Relic Plate Feet
Warrior: \aITEM 793585234 1281322702:Sabatons of Annihilation\/a
Crusader: \aITEM 1076796471 581062249:Intrepid Soul Sabatons\/a
Cleric: \aITEM 141545946 150096719:Truefaith Tonlets\/a


Relic Plate Legs
Guardian: \aITEM 1531430937 1487493:Mithrian Greaves of the Veteran\/a
Berserker: \aITEM 1906792837 858534545:Greaves of Annihilation\/a
Paladin: \aITEM -821488292 -1631153152:Intrepid Soul Greaves\/a
Shadownknight: \aITEM 168469029 1080187443:Dark Malevolent Greaves\/a
Templar: \aITEM 1397346327 1336267919:Truefaith Legplates\/a
Inquisitor: \aITEM -888820428 919286729:Regal Legplates of Scathing\/a


Relic Plate Torso
Guardian: \aITEM 20810529 -192146609:Mithrian Breastplate of the Veteran\/a
Berserker: \aITEM -63608641 -184228318:Breastplate of Annihilation\/a
Paladin: \aITEM -1527901019 -182348295:Intrepid Soul Cuirass\/a
Shadownknight: \aITEM -1258209516 1082743838:Dark Malevolent Breastplate\/a
Templar: \aITEM -1449171503 392871222:Truefaith Breastplate\/a
Inquisitor: \aITEM -1077352183 396617717:Regal Breastplate of Scathing\/a


Relic Plate Shoulders
Warrior: \aITEM 1030242891 -1120364314:Spaulders of Annihilation\/a
Crusader: \aITEM -91208366 1981920627:Intrepid Soul Spaulders\/a
Cleric: \aITEM -1728510363 -2078997763:Truefaith Pauldrons\/a


Relic Plate Forearms
Warrior: \aITEM -229967332 -1329491704:Gussets of Annihilation\/a
Crusader: \aITEM -1979324693 -607492169:Intrepid Soul Gussets\/a
Cleric: \aITEM -1036355894 -556371374:Truefaith Vambraces\/a


Relic Plate Hands
Warrior: \aITEM -1243635017 898594842:Gauntlets of Annihilation\/a
Crusader: \aITEM -2108457419 249728532:Intrepid Soul Gauntlets\/a
Cleric: \aITEM 1879851253 1826636909:Truefaith Gauntlets\/a


Relic Plate Head
Warrior: \aITEM 628059800 1742996876:Barbute of Annihilation\/a
Crusader: \aITEM 2102232746 746719222:Intrepid Soul Barbute\/a
Cleric: \aITEM -2008332972 -1550295185:Truefaith Cap\/a



Relic Cloth Feet
Sorceror: \aITEM -1769581414 384020171:Lunarspun Slippers\/a
Summoner: \aITEM 893796338 1501196693:Runesilk Slippers\/a
Enchanter: \aITEM -168440532 113860907:Slippers of Opulent Splendor\/a


Relic Cloth Legs
Wizard: \aITEM 1140658195 -1120540831:Lunar spun Pantaloons\/a
Warlock: \aITEM -1706197446 -696413590:Blackheart Pantaloons\/a
Conjurer: \aITEM 884599468 -1889462425:Runesilk Pantaloons\/a
Nercromancer: \aITEM 831995396 -1468699733:Deathcaster Pantaloons\/a
Illusionist: \aITEM 1122287566 1909538638:Pantaloons of Opulent Splendor\/a
Coercer: \aITEM -1568716986 -1118868759:Pantaloons of the Meridian\/a


Relic Cloth Torso
Wizard: \aITEM 1883391355 -1689806145:Lunarspun Vest\/a
Warlock: \aITEM 291386695 -1179004174:Blackheart Robe\/a
Conjurer: \aITEM -46895207 -1322591517:Runesilk Robe\/a
Nercromancer: \aITEM -2033469545 1727090208:Deathcaster Vest\/a
Illusionist: \aITEM -2133664 -1731437562:Robe of Opulent Splendor\/a
Coercer: \aITEM 1179268603 -2141096788:Robe of the Meridian\/a


Relic Cloth Shoulders
Sorceror: \aITEM -695325903 -2045254250:Lunarspun Cowl\/a
Summoner: \aITEM 1542980051 400995497:Runesilk Cowl\/a
Enchanter: \aITEM 1506237459 1054110069:Cowl of Opulent Splendor\/a


Relic Cloth Forearms
Sorceror: \aITEM 1084962977 139040548:Lunarspun Cuffs\/a
Summoner: \aITEM 237161951 -1094825144:Runesilk Cuffs\/a
Enchanter: \aITEM 1831857793 -377597482:Cuffs of Opulent Splendor\/a


Relic Cloth Hands
Sorceror: \aITEM -481626616 2127586056:Lunarspun Gloves\/a
Summoner: \aITEM 1421419462 979548583:Runesilk Gloves\/a
Enchanter: \aITEM 2013955538 -1385793491:Gloves of Opulent Splendor\/a


Relic Cloth Head
Sorceror: \aITEM 1483694561 -806825623:Lunarspun Hat\/a
Summoner: \aITEM 642283262 1523939623:Runesilk Hat\/a
Enchanter: \aITEM 1913922479 1346065377:Hat of Opulent Splendor\/a



Relic Chain Feet
Rogue: \aITEM -104176723 -640600764:Boots of the Undaunted\/a
Bard: \aITEM 227689402 -1123105491:Sonorant Boots\/a
Predator: \aITEM 1923106811 108207502:Boots of the Vigilant\/a
Shaman: \aITEM 79056879 1329272481:Boots of Clandestine Rites\/a


Relic Chain Legs
Brigand: \aITEM -1705212309 1431002127:Leggings of the Undaunted\/a
Swashbuckler: \aITEM -86333834 1607305355:Maelstrom Leggings of Espionage\/a
Dirge: \aITEM -383239407 -2062256778:Sonorant Leggings\/a
Troubadour: \aITEM -1643297575 -1330568499:Leggings of Resounding Presence\/a
Ranger: \aITEM -500606746 1332127184:Leggings of the Vigilant\/a
Assassin: \aITEM 1664311117 -480860900:Nightfall Leggings\/a
Mystic: \aITEM 186249472 730371241:Leggings of Clandestine Rites\/a
Defiler: \aITEM -285551221 -1081052035:Acrid Sanguine Leggings\/a


Relic Chain Torso
Brigand: \aITEM 1292816575 -1194901591:Coat of the Undaunted\/a
Swashbuckler: \aITEM -639743460 223712566:Maelstrom Coat of Espionage\/a
Dirge: \aITEM -652816878 -1794606232:Sonorant Coat\/a
Troubadour: \aITEM 1228129303 -1479305261:Coat of Resounding Presence\/a
Ranger: \aITEM -1112710649 2072388432:Coat of the Vigilant\/a
Assassin: \aITEM 345761778 1140992341:Nightfall Coat\/a
Mystic: \aITEM 368575456 1182104038:Chestguard of Clandestine Rites\/a
Defiler: \aITEM -16601264 473246591:Acrid Sanguine Chestguard\/a


Relic Chain Shoulders
Rogue: \aITEM 1451069502 1538391011:Mantle of the Undaunted\/a
Bard: \aITEM 769734729 1127916072:Sonorant Mantle\/a
Predator: \aITEM -817325998 1850309592:Mantle of the Vigilant\/a
Shaman: \aITEM 1616679389 1551158233:Shoulder Pads of Clandestine Rites\/a


Relic Chain Forearms
Rogue: \aITEM -1503270651 -1976524464:Bracers of the Undaunted\/a
Bard: \aITEM -253263944 -901974548:Sonorant Bracers\/a
Predator: \aITEM -660412478 1416903036:Bracers of the Vigilant\/a
Shaman: \aITEM 863328293 -658776462:Wristguards of Clandestine Rites\/a


Relic Chain Hands
Rogue: \aITEM 1599587232 -1125029598:Maelstrom Gloves of Espionage\/a
Bard: \aITEM -356228467 -2078279444:Sonorant Gloves\/a
Predator: \aITEM -1455426898 138285348:Gloves of the Vigilant\/a
Shaman: \aITEM -1748328343 -1001923985:Handguards of Clandestine Rites\/a


Relic Chain Head
Rogue: \aITEM 1876490913 -1710156361:Coif of the Undaunted\/a
Bard: \aITEM -495569582 1211812920:Sonorant Hat\/a
Predator: \aITEM 1771161009 1200108508:Hood of the Vigilant\/a
Mystic: \aITEM -721542952 -833733826:Helm of Clandestine Rites\/a
Defiler: \aITEM 1167467720 150792320:Acrid Sanguine Helm\/a