1800 rating, the key to 2k?

I was thinking about this tonight. We've all had games where we could have won but the other team simply out geared us -- ie when you're 1600 rated playing 2k rated teams that have their weapons and other relentless gear.

As I'm getting close and close to 1800 I'm seeing the playing field become more level with each upgrade and at 1800 thats a huge upgrade for most of us (well, for everyone, but especially us since the entire team sees a huge gain).

Personally I'll be replacing a furious shield/weapon on my main which isn't that much, but the other three will be going from blue PvE quest shields and the spectral kris (elemental dagger out of 5 man h-toc) which will give a net gain of something like +140 SP and 100 resil when factoring in the difference and gear and the 63 SP enchanct versus the +50 I use now.

So, with that said -- for the 3 of 4 of us that have already hit 2k, did it seem to become a lot easier once you got past 1800?

Gear is huge. Doesn't make it EZ mode, but gearing is huge.