I can say right now that the only gear you need is the gear you get from your level 45 and 50 class quest and the company gear that you're able to get pre-50, I did it like this as an archer and a dragoon with the same set of gear (I also had trash accesories on), the tank did have some armours on from AK it self but it's most definitely not required in the slightest, what you've ran into is the elitist trash that ruin all games.
