Quote Originally Posted by MariyaShidou View Post
Because gears are of different type. A pair of leather shoes can not give as much defense as a pair of chain mail boots, correct? Gear penalty will usually make your gear stat down to the rank you are now or a little bit lower. For example:

If a pair of shoes r10 = 20 def, r20 = 30 def
If a pair of solleret r10 (IF) = 24 def, r20 = 36 def

Say you are wearing r20 solleret at r10, even after penalty your def will be 21 and it will still be better than a pair of shoes r10.

However, defense is NOT the only thing that matters. There are evasion, there are optimal class (A Mage wearing sollerets will always receive less def than wearing shoes for instant) and there are bonuses.
Defense has served me the best so far as a gladiator. I did just take down 4 rank 28s at once as a rank 20 gladiator today for the leve Securing Horizon's Edge on a 2 or 3 star difficulty. I don't have much reference as to if that's good or not, but it was one hell of a fight.

But anyways, it still doesn't explain the lack of durabilty wear. I know stuff is suppose to wear down faster when it's much higher rank than you, but these sollerets seem to be doing pretty well still. Durabilities like my shield fall like a rock, though.