Okay, I'm sure there's a really obvious answer to this...

...but, why is it that, in pre-searing Ascalon, I see people with advanced armor? I've never seen a crafter and there are no Xunlai storage places, so how is it that someone can get armor there, that I'm only just getting in Kryta or something like that?

I mean, my level fifteen ranger got a druid vest a couple of days ago, and I see people with them in pre-searing Ascalon.

How's this work?

People are getting the armor from the Collectors you see strewn about in Pre-Searing Ascalon. For three items of a certain type, they'll trade you one piece of a set. Most of them are complete (Necromancer and Elementalist are missing one piece if I recall correctly) and all of them are strewn about on different Collectors, but if you look around a bit, it shouldn't take too long to find the right ones.

Awesome, thanks.

As a side-note, there's not a whole lot of point in getting the collector armor in pre-searing. It gives like 2 extra AL, and depending on the collector, the items can be a waste of time to acquire to get it.

I only say it's a waste of time due to the fact that as soon as you pass the academy, you should be upgrading your armor to the better crafter armor available from Corwen (sp?).