at 40 i would be in catas, since your AA conversions can buy you haste2 pots at a decent price instead of 28k or whatever the go for now.
My tyrant is in +3 full Plated Leather running with +6 great patas w/Rsk.haste. He has +4 str and +4 dex and -9con... in a party/raid he is immense, and if you haver vr the lack of hp is ok, since your atk.speed and str will keep it full with 2/3 mobs on you.
If your worried about health drop your str tats, but PL all the way to A grade and probably up to 68 till you get bison.
levelling, i stick to catas cos i like the drops and AA which i spread between all my toons for GHP/GSAP so i dont know the best areas.
I XP'ed in a room with krators, snipes, premo, floating eyes and some other floating mob. Can only clear it if I got a BD or in a duo. There are some hallways with Snipe groups as well, they're pretty good.
will give it a whirl then. could use the rec's for other chars (if i ever get dorfy high enough)
i just need vr (got 100;s of scrolls from events past) and im ok.
any gear is fine till a grade. its gonna fly by. pavel ruins is amazing. grind there till you out lvl it then go into the catas. tyrant wc duo is the best in the game, i am currently doing this from 77-78 in an 8 spawn cata room. pretty much you cant fail with a wc an tyrant.
have fun! and welcome to the orcs.