Ouch, that hurt...

[Richiealvian]

I was alternating between scholar/summoner, and I don't think I actually needed any gear prior to Amdapor Keep. Even Ifrit HM I did with mostly story gained AF and some quest rewards. Although I have to admit, it will be much better if you have slightly better gear at AK, I did bring my team down quite a bit(especially because I was new)

DPS checks, however.. I think that's a different story, haha. Pretty sure you can't beat starting from garuda if you don't have decent DPS.

[Jaminos]

I was alternating between scholar/summoner, and I don't think I actually needed any gear prior to Amdapor Keep. Even Ifrit HM I did with mostly story gained AF and some quest rewards. Although I have to admit, it will be much better if you have slightly better gear at AK, I did bring my team down quite a bit(especially because I was new)

DPS checks, however.. I think that's a different story, haha. Pretty sure you can't beat starting from garuda if you don't have decent DPS.

In my group, our DPS seemed to be on the lower side. The final boss went down very slowly. I was running out of places to tank the boss because everywhere else was a poison zone. But no, a tank that is not geared correctly will wipe every time. Our flash depends on our main weapon. If it is to low, you won't pick up agro.