Wait Until You Level Past Rank 20 Before Upgrading Armor

I just reached Reputation 1 with Orochi today and realized that all of my armor is obsolete now that i can get rare armor drops after games. Wasted a ton of armor materials for no real benefit. Take my warning seriously if you are looking to get an edge early on in this game. Rare armor is vastly superior to the common armor you are forced to use before leveling past 20.