Wargear

When considering what wargear to equip on a hero, consider the purpose of the hero. Will he primarily be for soloing bases? Supporting assaults? Defense? Skirmish?

It's important to understand that the hero's wargear only takes effect when the hero is deployed on attacks, but on defense, wargear applies even while the hero is in the scriptorum. Once a hero dies, his wargear effects no longer apply in either case.

So dismiss wargear that provides a benefit that is mostly/always used while the hero's wargear is not in effect. Damage resistance to your HQ is a good example. Your hero is usually dead by the time your opponent starts attacking your HQ in earnest (though sometimes attackers will go straight for the HQ, ignoring heroes and turrets).

Another example is boosts to tactics that you mostly only use before deploying the hero. If the only time you deploy deathstorm is before deploying your hero, deathstorm damage bonus wargear won't help you.

Tip: Before a hero can be useful on defense, you will need to level him up a fair bit. When you get a new hero intended for defense, consider putting some uncommon attack wargear on him at first to help with attacks. Once he's leveled up, put defensive wargear on and move him to the front of the defense queue. Don't put valuable attack wargear on as you will lose it when you replace it with defensive wargear.