I think ej should give an excel spread sheet or something that is public use for how item levels are calculated and then let us adjust gear. Show it how loki shows it here so he can see the big picture. It would be easy to see if things look "fair".

Additionally, there should be multiple versions of gear (it doesnt need to look different) - a gray shroud could be a shadow imbued gray shroud and look the same as an energy imbued gray shroud. This way no built in props favor one class over another - just need to find your class's type. This would also increase trading.