Weapons and armor

My first character in the game is in post-searing Ascalon. I have some questions about obtaining new weapons and armor. One of the NPCs in the city informed me that the best weapons are generally found off monsters and if I am desperate then I should get one crafted. He also told me that armor should be crafted. I am aware that there are different collectors that give you armor pieces for collectible drops. I noticed that the armor given by the collectors is of slightly lower quality than the crafted armor.

Is the above true through out the game? I mean should I always try to get weapons off monsters or buy them from other players. And the best armor will always be crafted? For now I was thinking of going for collector armor since I dont really feel like spending all my gold on crafting at lvl 8.

I would agree with that statement.

You cannot wear the armor that drops from monsters. The only armor you can wear is what you get from collectors or from the armor crafters in town.
It is customized for you, and only you. Collector armor is usually close to what the crafters in the same area offer, but the crafters have more variety.

You can buy weapons from NPCs in town, or from other players, or you can use weapons dropped by monsters. The only restriction for use is once you have a weapon customized it can't be used by another player.

Hope that helps.

For the Ascalon area, completely true. For the rest of the game, totally and completely false.

Yes the crafter has more variety, but when you get to the jungle, you will find collectors giving you HIGHER armor level than what you can craft in that area.

Ever hear of people getting "run" to Droknar's Forge? It's because they want the highest armor in the game as soon as possible. However, when you arrive in the desert, you will find collectors who give you armor of the same level as Droknar's armor.

Collector's armor is very basic but most of the time BETTER than crafted armor. And, free.

How so? I have heard this claim before, but to my experience I have not seen collector armor with a higher AL or better mods than that offered by crafters in the same area. Just curious.

And saying that it is free is relative. You do have to spend the time gathering the necessary items to trade to the collectors. To some people time=money.

just my opinions

Another advice, when you trade with other people be very, very alert. There is alot of jerks out there who tries to scam you on a trade, such as selling you customized weapons or trick you in different ways.

Now, I don´t say that everyone does this, most players are serious and honest players, but every now and then you run into a firstclass jerk.

As I said, the armor from collectors is very basic and does not have better mods - but is higher level than crafters.

If you are a caster for example, in the jungle you can acquire AL 51 armor from collectors. The armor you craft in Quarrel Falls is not as high as that.

In the desert you can get AL 60 armor from collectors. You cannot get that from a crafter until Droknar's Forge. I've done it that way with all my characters because--like the OP--I didn't want to spend money on armor.

You are correct that it takes a little bit of extra time to collect materials but to me, adventuring and collecting and then finding the collector was just like, uh, playing. So it's not too much of a hardship and I never had to beg from friends to pay for the armor I really wanted by the time I got to Drok's.

EDIT: Especially since the OP is on his first character, this is a great way to save money.