Let me explain the gear progression path since it's a bit tricky to get right (and knowing this will save you a lot of time). You'll start with basic boneguard gear from the simple workbench, which everyone gets their hands on early. The interesting part comes when you unlock nightstalker armor, because this is where your power really starts to show - this happens through researching recipes at your workbench (and trust me, you'll want to do this as soon as possible).

When you're ready to step things up, defeating quincey the bandit king opens up the tailoring bench, which is crucial since it lets you craft better gear like hollowfang. Something worth noting: you can actually create merciless variants of your copper and iron gear, which give you nice power boosts through the mid-game. This happens by either finding special recipes from vendors or through research scrolls you'll discover while exploring.

The path to dark silver gear is where things get really interesting, because you'll need to upgrade your tailoring bench and do some serious research at the athenaeum. You're looking at gathering both silver ore and scourgestone for this tier - these materials are pretty challenging to get your hands on, but the dawnthorn and dracula sets you can make are absolutely worth it (especially since they'll help you tackle the tougher regions of the map). A helpful detail most people miss: focus on unlocking the advanced furnace early, since you'll need it for processing those high-tier materials later on.

Remember, each gear upgrade opens up new possibilities for taking on tougher bosses, which in turn unlocks even better equipment - it's a cycle that keeps pushing you forward through the progression path.