If you like to damage farm, this isn't for you.

If, you're like me, and enjoy having the most caps and damage on your team, maybe this might be for you. (Obviously these pics are curated and in no way a realistic portrayal of how I do in game on average, but I'd say this clip (859-836 red) with 11 caps 8k damage is not far off.)

Here's a quick and dirty Pros/Cons list of going 2* (or 3*):

Pros:

• Cheap: it costs pennies to buy 2* armor, UVs don't matter, and you only need to heat to level 5 to get the extra pip of health
• Better satisfaction: It's much more satisfying to win with 2* armor gear than decked out Skolver/Black Kat/UV Max stuff. You earn your kills by self-handicapping. They're like training wheels. Even if you have max ASI weapons, you're hardly "pay to win" when full Vog/Justifier gets you the same bonuses with more health and defense.
• Getting good at 2* means you get even better when you switch to 5*
• Learn to play defensively and get enemies to respect your space

Cons:

• Fighting AT, low ping users is even harder
• Guardians and Recons suddenly become a lot more threatening than Strikers
• You'll die a lot if you play the same way you used to with 5*, which is called sucking
• Difficult to play aggressively since the odds are against you when diving into a fight
• Even small lag spikes or medium/high ping compromise a lot of your survivability - you will rely a lot on playing well, predicting well, and staying alive to not spend most of your time in LD respawning. Much stronger emphasis on spacing and knowing the max range of your weapons.
• Most 2* gear also means giving up damage bonuses - which is a good thing. Less damage bonus means you need to play even better to earn your kills.
• Can be frustrating - a flourish swing will take away about 40-50% of your health, and 3 hits is always death. You are instant killed by a single GF combo. If you find yourself getting hit by GF combos a lot, you need to play better.

People talk about which is more important: caps or damage. I say neither is the most important - collectively they paint a picture of what you did that game. You can't cap/defend caps if you run from every fight (which is why you need to fight and kill people who threaten your caps) and you hurt team score if you only damage and go out of your way to avoid caps (remember, the more players on a cap, the faster you finish capping, and the less time everyone spends overall on capping). 2* training keeps you honest about playing smarter to get more caps and more damage.

...It's also crazy fun.