Quote Originally Posted by GuideMihr View Post
It's useless to make test combat now till new combat system is ready
I wouldn't call it useless, because it still gives feedback that can be used while they are in the process of developing new combat.

My take on equipment: Every piece of equipment should be useful in game even if you are a maxed out character fighting other maxed out characters and high level mobs. All equipment should have positives and negatives to promote players having to make a choice of what to use, but the negatives should never be so bad that players wouldn't want to use them at all. Since balance is so difficult to achieve, the developers should pay attention to the community and rebalance as needed.

If you play Eve, you will start in a frigate class ship. Frigate class ships have low hit points and low damage; however, they are fast (which makes them hard to hit by larger, more powerful, ships) and they are still good at fulfilling support roles or for taking out the enemies "support" ships if fitted to deal damage. So while you start with one, you can still use a frigate and be useful in a mixed group.

Tl;dr: Even starter equipment should have some usefullness at "end-game" but higher tier equipment should also be useful despite the costs.