What Am I Missing?

[avalus]

@SDShannonS: I think you give Bolster a bit too much importance, it's just there so you don't have a completely unjust fight like a R7 against a R12 where it's obvious who would win.
Bolster acts as a stats buffer and gives you a better chance but as other people already said in this thread, you will never be as strong as a fully geared R15 (all class specificities apart of course), which is the top Rank for T1, just thanks to Bolster.

Also, If I was you, I wouldn't rely too much on doing lots of damage as a Tank, you wanna do DPS, make a DPS but face the squishyness that comes with it Tanks' DPS is sustained, and tbh, unless you have R40, the right RR and gear, to me it's pointless to even try to go "DPS" Tank because you'd be waaay more useful as an actual SnB Tank until R40 because that's what you're supposed to do. (except maybe SM where the Spirit dmg attacks give you a considerable boost)
The issue you might also have with IB, is that you have to build up your Grudges to be at 100% of your potential.
If you're getting that frustrated with your IB, just make a White Lion for example and you'll see the difference when you get crits with Sundering Chops in people's backs

Spoiler:

(Off-Topic: A bit annoying to see all those "DPS" tanks not using Guard, "DPS" healers not even throwing a HoT, it's sometimes infuriating that I have to jump around with my Guard like a monkey trying to save my group from getting owned and you have this kewl SM just standing there, bashing their guarded DPS (-> useless) without even Guarding me or anyone else in the group or at least going to pressure their backline.
I mean, PuGs will always be PuGs but at least try to make use of your class mechanics to help your team a bit instead of going mindless loldps.
I think what's worse is that when you try to make people realise where they did wrong, you get contempt and just get discarded as an annoying a**hole... Anyway /rantoff, back on topic)

Bolster is indeed a multiplier to mainstats and armor/resists.

That is indeed what Bolster does, nothing to do with gear. Basically the only thing that ties gear & Bolster together is the fact that every level your base stats grow, so Bolster boost diminishes, hence you'd better get some gear or you'll fall behind people of your level.

[Druin]

Where in the world did you hear that? I can't possibly believe that's how bolster works, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

Bolster is indeed a multiplier to mainstats and armor/resists.

I didn't think it depended on the gear you were wearing, but more on the lvl you are.

It depends on both.

[avalus]

Bolster is indeed a multiplier to mainstats and armor/resists.

I didn't think it depended on the gear you were wearing, but more on the lvl you are.

It depends on both.

Really ? Interesting.
Mea culpa for spreading false information then.

[Druin]

Yeah that's why it's really important to keep your gear updated at all times.

If you want to see the most extreme case of bolster. Get some blue or purple lvl1 talis and some lvl2-3 white gear with talis slot. Get a char to lvl2-3, equip the stuff and walk into RvR.

[Sulorie]

I thought this is all known since live but maybe people should twink more. :^)

For easier math, imagine you are rank 10 and rvr will bolster you to 15.
All your main stats will be increased by 50% in rvr.
This means items, talismans and basestats are increased.
You don't need your full skillset to kill a target, so low rank chars with proper gear AND talismans are quite powerful.

[Darosh]

Yeah that's why it's really important to keep your gear updated at all times.

If you want to see the most extreme case of bolster. Get some blue or purple lvl1 talis and some lvl2-3 white gear with talis slot. Get a char to lvl2-3, equip the stuff and walk into RvR.

Did that with a bunch of lucky purple drops that I have collected throughout the last year while leveling alts...
Got some lovely and rather lucky drops for SWs, remade the SW that I have at one point deleted as I never played it, slapped the gear onto it - lo and behold: I felt like god for 2ish levels, in spite of having just two, three abilities ~

Currently collecting new gear for a fun session of twoshotting people with a twinked out lvl3ish SW. :3

[SDShannonS]

Okay, I'm starting to get it. So the gear I'm wearing is a collection of Influence rewards, quest rewards, and RvR rewards (medallions). You're saying that I'm always going to get spanked by guys wearing blue/purple gear that they've gathered over time and thrown onto their twink which then gets bolstered compared to my relatively new green/blue gear that I've managed to throw together in the week or so that I've been playing.

That's a little bit disappointing to learn that, despite the whole point of bolstering to give new folks a chance, I'm always going to be WAY behind the curve compared to some guy's twinked out level 3. And I hear what people are saying that, as an IB I should be grouped; I do group about 90% of the time but sometimes find myself in single combat with someone when I'm holding the front line and my group just vanishes (PUGs; what are you gonna do). In those situations, I don't seem to stand a snowball's chance in hell of surviving, despite playing a class designed for durability and being able to withstand sustained punishment.

I guess the only answer is to do scenarios for emblems, get blue/purple gear (is the emblem gear even blue?), and hope for the best. Are there any other recommended methods for improving the quality of gear? Someone said something about talismans; I've seen some gear with talisman slots but I have no idea what talismans are, nor how to get them.

[Collateral]

You can make talis of your own or buy them in the auction (I wouldn't recommend that at low lvls tho). In the capital there are crafting trainers. By clicking them you will learn a crafting skill. With tali making, you can take either salvaging (destroying gear to get main talisman fragments, essences and gold dust), or you can take scavenging (scavenging dead mobs to get fragments and gold dust (also things for potion making I believe); you can't get essences). Also, certain fragments are unique to scavenging, like armour tali fragments, and resist tali fragments are unique to salvaging.

I think there is a great scavenging guide here on the forums that was posted recently, will try to find it.

[Renork]

Okay, I'm starting to get it. So the gear I'm wearing is a collection of Influence rewards, quest rewards, and RvR rewards (medallions). You're saying that I'm always going to get spanked by guys wearing blue/purple gear that they've gathered over time and thrown onto their twink which then gets bolstered compared to my relatively new green/blue gear that I've managed to throw together in the week or so that I've been playing.

That's a little bit disappointing to learn that, despite the whole point of bolstering to give new folks a chance, I'm always going to be WAY behind the curve compared to some guy's twinked out level 3. And I hear what people are saying that, as an IB I should be grouped; I do group about 90% of the time but sometimes find myself in single combat with someone when I'm holding the front line and my group just vanishes (PUGs; what are you gonna do). In those situations, I don't seem to stand a snowball's chance in hell of surviving, despite playing a class designed for durability and being able to withstand sustained punishment.

I guess the only answer is to do scenarios for emblems, get blue/purple gear (is the emblem gear even blue?), and hope for the best. Are there any other recommended methods for improving the quality of gear? Someone said something about talismans; I've seen some gear with talisman slots but I have no idea what talismans are, nor how to get them.

Bolstering gives you a chance to contribute something in group fights, It's not meant for you to 1v1 other people that are better geared, have more tactics, and are ultimately higher level than you. IB's are extremely tanky, you can't really judge anything at your level.

[Darosh]

Spoiler:

Okay, I'm starting to get it. So the gear I'm wearing is a collection of Influence rewards, quest rewards, and RvR rewards (medallions). You're saying that I'm always going to get spanked by guys wearing blue/purple gear that they've gathered over time and thrown onto their twink which then gets bolstered compared to my relatively new green/blue gear that I've managed to throw together in the week or so that I've been playing.

That's a little bit disappointing to learn that, despite the whole point of bolstering to give new folks a chance, I'm always going to be WAY behind the curve compared to some guy's twinked out level 3. And I hear what people are saying that, as an IB I should be grouped; I do group about 90% of the time but sometimes find myself in single combat with someone when I'm holding the front line and my group just vanishes (PUGs; what are you gonna do). In those situations, I don't seem to stand a snowball's chance in hell of surviving, despite playing a class designed for durability and being able to withstand sustained punishment.

I guess the only answer is to do scenarios for emblems, get blue/purple gear (is the emblem gear even blue?), and hope for the best. Are there any other recommended methods for improving the quality of gear? Someone said something about talismans; I've seen some gear with talisman slots but I have no idea what talismans are, nor how to get them.

I'd suggest not to get demoralized by some unlucky encounters, let alone judging the game by T1 experience. Mind you, IB - as I've stated in an earlier response - gets most of his fancy stuff in T3-T4 range, so do many other classes, too.
As to the marked bit above: Its a PvP game, death is not optional but much rather obligatory - get used it, tank or not.
To cheer you up a tad: IB is the only class with access to a KD and a non-moral punt in T1, go have some fun punting unsuspecting mdps/tanks into guards, or into your blob - it is what I enjoyed the most in T1 on my IB, and to be perfectly honest I am thinking about re-leveling an IB just to have some fun with said two tools and the cheese that comes with them in T1.

In terms of gear:
Scenario gear (emblems) and RvR gear (medallions), alongside epic worlddrops, RvR influence gear and epic quest rewards are considered BiS for the end section of the various level brackets (x8-x9), whereas most PQ loot, uncommon and rare worlddrops and some of the PvE influence gear is considered BiS for the middle section of various level brackets (x1-x7) - very roughly speaking.
Furthermore, talismans and pots give you an considerable edge in (low tier) scenarios - but they are to be considered optional throughout the lower tiers; you shouldn't necessarily pop purple, or even rare talismans in your gear as you'll be constantly swapping it out - you can make quite alot of gold with talismans, even with low level talismans provided they are purple (lv1+) or rare (lv16+), so you could potentially work on your funds for the 60% mount and maybe Rare Fortune gear/proper talismans.

I'd suggest you prepare talismans for the end of your respective scenario bracket (T1 - lv15, T2 - lv29) and focus on getting your crafting skills up to notch, having an alt that can make pots pays off alot longterm; if I were to choose between a profession I'd opt for the ability to craft pots rather than talismans, given that the former is more easily supplied and grinded for ~