If this truly is your first time through, then just enjoy it & learn on your own. The game is designed for you to succeed (i.e. no death penalty) & there are some fun surprises waiting for you that it would be wrong to spoil. There are no points for running perfect & believe me your first time through the ao3 gauntlet will be epic & worth the wait. It's even better with a bunch of fellow noobs, trying to put things they've only heard of into action. Lol, was that a growl? Did you see what killed me?
You are supposed to get slaughtered, regroup, replan & overcome. When it works right & your group is cool, this game play element really delivers.
My advice: try everything out yoursef for the best gear. Use performance as the critera because some stats can be misleading. Don't buy anything your first time through; the joy of a usable drop that makes you better is a rare treasure. Enjoy that while you can since even if it goes to 55 soon, if you play for three months, you will send most of your time capped & looking for gears you missed will give you something to do.
I've seen this sentiment expressed more eloquently elsewhere on threads like this & I think it's the consensus: just play it out. It's a good game & there's no need to skip phases by knowing too much too soon. Each phase is fun, enjoy it.
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