When do you replace gear (DoW/M)?

[Gist]

I'm not exactly new, but it's been so long since I've tried to level a class from X to cap, and I've forgotten when it's necessary to make sure that your gear is up to date? I know that for crafting and gathering, BiS needs to continually be updated to make sure you can HQ reliably, but that's not as much of an issue for battle classes and I'm just ehhhh.

Help?

[Risvertasashi]

My general rule is to check myself every 5 levels before 50. Dungeon gear I consider to be good for about 10 levels, whites for 5 levels. I don't sweat it too much if a slot or 2 falls behind as long as most stuff is close to current.

Post 50... 2 levels or so. But leveling takes long enough and the dungeons are pretty generous with chests that keeping up to date hasn't been an issue for me (and if you have AIW/Dreadwyrm, you don't need drops till the 57 dungeon anyways). Still, same principle. If RNGsus really doesn't like me, fill in some slots with vendor whites (or check MB as sometimes it's cheaper).

Once you're at level cap... just get the highest ilvl everything you can. Worry about offstats only once you have more than one piece to choose from at the same ilvl.

[Anova]

As a general rule of thumb, pink gear is worth 2ilvls higher than its stated level and green gear is 4 ilvls higher than its stated level.

After 50, an HQ item or a dungeon green are equivalents.

[Vandril]

When I level new classes from 10-50, I tend to upgrade all of my gear every 10 levels or so. This means I'll sometimes skip a "tier" of gear, as there tends to be one every 5 or so levels. Doing so has never held me back in leveling or dungeon runs. Having HQ gear for level 35 while being level 40, for example, is a lot like having the level 40 NQ gear. Only once 10 full levels pass do I tend to notice a real drawback to using my current gear and feel like I should upgrade.

All that said, I'll generally make an exception for my weapon. I like staying up to date with weapons.

Exceptions to this are tank classes. While leveling tank classes, if I am ever running a low level dungeon, I ensure I am in the best HQ crafted gear I can be for the level. It really helps ensure smooth runs regardless of who you get in your party.

Leveling from 50-60, though, is a different story. Every 2 levels has a new tier of gear. I will tend to follow my old pattern of double-tier replacement and replace gear every 4 levels (every 2 tiers). I'll make the 50 set, hit 54 and use the 54 set, hit 58 and use the 58 set, then grab whatever non-crafted pieces I can to fill out my 60 gear and go from there.

[Risvertasashi]

All that said, I'll generally make an exception for my weapon. I like staying up to date with weapons.

...this is actually really good advice. Just in case the OP isn't aware, weapons have the most heavily weighted stat; it's worth extra effort to keep up to date on.