if you're in a major guild (or even in any type of guild, really), WoE set [cycle hotkey robe (marc <no need for marc if ~100 hard-MDEF>, GR, angeling, etc) and muffler (nox/ray, DR, ele-reduc)] is a must when CCing (along with other reduc gears of course) so you can survive the whole duration and give your guildies more time to try to wipe the opponents out; (but of course, with megs/tao, WoE set is really great - nice balance of reducs and offense - many try to go for this setup)
if you have really high tier HP/ATK gears, +12 KvM mace, +12 stamina CEB and such (and more so if you have access to megs/tao) - then just going full offense is indeed great - especially when the moment isn't too critical (rushing/regrouping means be ready to CC and not wander around trying to kill), just snapping all around picking out opponents - and if you're actually good at it - low reducs means you should be able to avoid what's coming on to you;
i wouldn't really say e.variants is that good currently; VIT+14 GW GFSS and +9~12 superior VIT/STR temp boots combo is way better for mHP (ie. for TC/FC and GoH (missing HP) damage);
mSP isn't as relevant as before since GFist is not really reliable for killing, especially when many wear high reducs and the 10-sec downtime;
honestly, without top offensive gears and vs high reduc opponents, there's no point in going full offensive setup - just end up mainly dying without really getting any kills;
WoE set is great for CCing (as said before), and if opponents are on low reducs (you do more damage so offensive gear won't matter as much) and/or they are on full offense setup (they do more damage so your reducs matter) - the thing is you won't really know their setup up for sure 100% of the time, so trial and error also comes into play;
the set becomes less relevant if you're in a small raiding-type guilds that enjoy small scale fights (or just singling out opponents), so full offensive setup is better for max killing potential - though CCing as appropriate is always important in any case - just less risk of dying when the opponents are also small in size (ex. catch most of them in 1 well placed CC, let your party do the wiping);
so damage vs survivability;
switch setups as appropriate and not just stick to 1 set;
Edited by ka10, 27 April 2015 - 08:02 PM.