Instances are not a valid source of EXP.

[Kazamoto]

Gear all the way up to level 50 is transitional gear. There is no point in repeating instances to get the items you want, nor is there a real point to adding materia to gear before level 50. This is yet another reason players will not be repeating instances.

This is why we get tanks in Main story dungeons in all white gear with no rings/earrings etc.

You should always have good gear for the level of your next or current dungeon, if not you are a drag to the rest of the group running the event. At least in FFXI when people pulled this "only end game gear" or "its just a sub job, i dont need good gear" crap we could kick them.

While maybe YOU dont care about the content until 50, you party likely does, don't be a jerk kupo!

[BlaiseArath]

!

Agreed. Can't even count the times I've had tanks who can't hold hate to even my poor SMN, let alone the healer or keep any kind of AoE hate, and it gets frustrating when it can cause failed runs... Maybe this is lack of knowledge on how to play a job, But i can certainly suspect having a level 30 white weapon in a level 40 dungeon plays a part in your holding hate. Pinks aren't that uncommon and you can even get them in Leves.

so, gear certainly matters 1-49, as every job, especially DD/Tanks, and while I can't say I enjoy burning Storyline/Side dungeons for armor, it does help you with one thing... If you repeat Storyline Dungeons for Green-tier armor(or at least pink), not only will that armor last you a good solid 5-10 levels, It also lets you get a lot more exp early on, possibly shortening the gap between the "46 to 49" Storyline quest jump.