Player ID: 23278
Just wanted to share something about my main toon with the free and budget players when it comes to collecting gear. I have 40 gear slots on my main. That toon has been considered an elite toon by many since the beginning of the game. My current suit does pretty dang good. It has 6 pieces of gear acquired outside the shuffle. 2 from the regular store, 2 from raids, and 2 from patrols. In fact, all 3 locations have some really good pieces of gear for free and budget players. Purgatory, Neo Utopia, and Planet X all have interesting gear to be got.
The two fights below are cool examples. In the one where I am in a sup nat core, I have only 2 store gear on, and the rest is shuffle. In the one with a magic core, I have 2 store bought gear, 2 raid gear, and 2 patrol gear.
My point is, just cuz your gear isn't "premium shuffle gear" doesn't mean it can't still kick ass. So keep collecting, even the gear that isn't "premier".