Armour question?

Hey I am new to this game, so apologise if question has already been asked.

I got to Lion's Arch and realised that I have been in my Ascalon Armour since i first reached level 7 or something. I am now level 16 (yes i know i am extremely overleveled for just reaching Lion's Arch - but it is my first time playing this game and i am doing all the side-quests). I checked to see the new Armour that i could get from Lion's Arch but found that there was a negligable difference between my ascalon armour and any new armour. I saw that there was one type (dont remember the name) that had a lot of + energy, but slightly less defense, besides that there seemed to be nothing.

Am i missing something, in a game like diablo, WOW, titan quest, you go through countless armour upgrades. I just find it weird that since the beginning of the game i have upgraded my armour once from level 1 to level 16. Am i completely misreading the new armour? Is the difference from my current Ascalon armour that huge?

Cheers in advance.

Yeah, the armor available in Lion's isn't any better than Ascalon's, but there is new armor to be had. Since you are new to the game, and probably don't have too much gold yet, there are armorers in two small towns nearby called Bergen Hot Springs and Beetleton. There are some quests that will guide you to the Ascalon Settlement in the north of Lion's Arch, and from there you can enter Nebo Terrace. Bergen is then due south and Beetletun is due west. The armor there is slightly better than what you got in Ascalon.

Now to get the max level armor you'd have to go to Droknar's Forge. You'll get there eventually playing through the game. However, there is a shortcut. Back in that last town in the Shiverpeaks, Beacon's Pearch, you may have noticed people advertising a "Droks Run". This is where you can get a high level character (or two) to run you down to Droknar's Forge in order to get max armor, for a price. Going rate was 3k for the run, last I saw and the armor there runs 6k + materials. This is more for experienced players with new characters and the gold to pay.

If you have the other campaingns you can hop on over to Kaineng Center in Factions for max armor, or the Consolate Docks after a few quests in Nightfall. This is much easier and cheaper than a Droks run if you do.

For every 40 points of armor, the damage you take is halved.

So, going from 40 to 80 would make you take half damage (except armor ignoring attacks).

And no, contrary to grind-oriented games, in GW you have essentially one armor level, you just choose the flavor, more energy, more defense against specific type, etc.

In Guild Wars, you usually go throuh 1 or 2 armor upgrades at most. In prophecies, i usually get 1 set in Ascalon, 1 set in the Jungle at quarrel falls and 1 set in Droknar's Forge. There are more armor crafters then the ones at the places i mentioned, but the difference you'll get between the armor sets is minimal. I would say that changing your armor 2-3 times is normal, above that it's kinda useless imo.

Also, if you find yourself in a bind and strapped for cash with armor, look for collectors armor for free armor that is usually better then the one's avaliable for crafting.