It has been said time and time again that you can make 4k+ ec's by soloing trials. It has even been suggested by GM's. And guess what? It's NOT BANNABLE. If you choose not to, whether out of laziness, lack of know-how, or time constraints (and it has been said that this game is not for those who only have 2 hours to play), then that's on you, but at least there's that alternative in dragon. If you're not willing to put in time (or money, but the money thing is understandable--not everyone has thousands to drop in pixels) then you will always be under the bar.
I like the looks of both armors, however I am saving up for R8 and am already dead set on it for now unless I decided that the re-rolls get too taxing. ^^ Either way I'm excited about both