Most are talking about how even without avant you get like a 50% boost for each piece of armor/weapon if it's new. Having 0 I needed +40 to get A with almost a full new set + weapon I only needed locked loadout.

Presumably there is a subset of players who prefer to focus on maximizing their combat effectiveness at all times (which may entail mid-Activity loadout switching), and will put that concern over and above maximizing their scores. If, on the other hand, someone wishes to focus on maximizing their score, then yes they will want to choose Equipment Lock over Avant Garde based on the greater boost the former provides to the Challenge Multiplier. That said, if they are truly focused on [b]maximizing[/b] their score they will likely be using only New and Featured Gear [i]alongside[/i] Locked Loadout, as each such piece adds to one’s Reward Multiplier. I will say though that one potential sticking point for a lot of players is quite likely the fairly limited list of Featured Exotics. For those players who are of the mindset that they have to earn rewards [b]as efficiently as possible[/b] with zero wiggle room, having to shut themselves off from the vast majority of Exotic Weapons and Armor that they have previously been able to use without issue probably doesn’t feel great. (΄◉◞౪◟◉｀)

Avant Guard is not optional in the conquests, which are required for rank progression. The activity literally wont let you launch & displays message "wrong gear equipped".

I think the main complaint with avant is the conquests.