My main was an ogre shaman on Live and I didn't have a stellar gear until Luclin+ (out of the scope of this server) (most of the stuff I had could have been used by an iksar).
Could I equip a JBB? Yeah!
Did I equip a JBB? Never saw the colour of one, let alone equip one (I didn't even finish my Epic until Luclin!)
Could I solo the same stuff as the uber shaman of my server? Yeah!
Did I do it as easily? Hell no but it helped me develop my skills and I could do stuff I never saw any other shaman do (stopping a large train in KC while everyone zoned/gated out then sending mocking tells to all the cowards who fled. In all honesty, I still don't know how I did that but I sure did it, to everyone's amazement, mine included
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In a nutshell, as much as I'm sure a JBB is a great tool, you can do the same stuff without and regarding the rest of the gear, once Velious comes out, this will become an almost moot point. Do yourself a favour, you are about to stare at that toon for hours, go for something that you'll enjoy watching.