AC issues are starting to be really problematic.

[pasi]

There's also a huge drop off as most raid NPCs go from 66-70 warriors from 60-65 casters.

With that said, monks with Wu/Wu + Avatar Buff aren't very far off from being at maximum-geared Velious damage (or at least until Garrath). It's not like there's tons of aura of battle stuff available, so actual gear doesn't matter outside of weapons. Yes, avatar for everyone is a modest gain, but it was never required to do some damage.

How big of a gain do you think 100 ATK is supposed to be if you think primals are a requirement?