UVs on armor makes a difference, but not a tremendous one. Here's the recommended list of equipment (all easily obtainable):

Armor/Helm:
Fractured Mask of Seerus (this one might be a little pricy if you don't have the expansion, ~200ce)
Frostbreaker armor (to wear with Mask)
Circuitbreaker helm or armor, paired with Emberbreak helm or armor
By and large, the most dangerous status you will face is shock and fire. Elemental damage is the only special type (from the Edge swords, and Rocket Hammer) so that's what you should try to defend against. UVs for normal and elemental defense, shock, freeze and fire are helpful. There will also be Cold Snap and Frost Gun users, so choose your loadout based on how much freeze is in the current game. Otherwise, try to defend against shock, and fire. Note that the Mask gives you a strong negative freeze resistance.

Weapons: ** indicates mission obtainable
**Heavy hatchet, ASI high
**Firecracker, CTR medium
**Cold Snap, CTR medium
**Zapper, ASI high
**Frost Gun, CTR high
Static Edge
Hot Edge
**Prototype Rocket Hammer
Static Flash
Notice how almost all of the key weapons have great UVs that are mission obtainable. The exceptions are the hammer (expansion only) and Static Flash (starter pack only). The hammer has a high skill threshold to use well, but it is probably the single most overpowered weapon in T1 (due to its high mobility, damage and pure elemental status). Therefore, if you want a friendly match try to keep the hammer at home.

Additional weapons to consider:
Super Stun Gun
Thwack Hammer
Any other 1* sword
These are harder to get good UVs on, but the Stun status on the first two can give you a decisive edge. The purely normal damage fast swords are frowned upon because they don't inflict status, and normal damage isn't as effective as throwing in elemental.