Does gear get better in later regions, or is early-game armor/weapons basically enough for a long time?

Hi, I have a question about the gear progression in Crimson Desert.

So far I’ve only been in the first region, and I noticed that most armor and weapons seem pretty similar stat-wise. Very early on, I bought the Crusader armor set from the blacksmith just as a temporary starter set, but now, after dozens of hours, I still haven’t found anything that feels even slightly better.

Because of that, I also don’t really understand the point of the contribution shop. It seems to sell the same kind of gear, except you have to grind for it, while the set I bought at the start was super cheap and has basically carried me the whole time.

So my question is: do later regions have armor and weapons that are clearly better than the starter gear, or is the system designed differently? How does gear progression work in general?

I’m asking because I’m worried about spending Abyss Artifacts on upgrading gear that might become obsolete soon.

Thanks in advance.