you don't have to infuse to hit max light but on the way there you would be constantly leaving behind gear you enjoy and intermittently using gear you dislike.
the reason they should be removed was highlighted by OP, new players will be discouraged to keep playing when they find out they have to leave good gear behind to keep leveling.
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why do you need to leave good gear behind? those are the exact items you infuse. how are all of you not getting this? its arguments like this that make the whole core movement null. there isn't one good reason to remove them.
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you don't necessarily leave it behind but lets say a new player gets Orphius Rigs early on and it quickly becomes out leveled and they don't have the cores to constantly keep infusing it. they will use the higher light gear reluctantly and feeling forced, and if they play like all the core supporters tell them too then they will be waiting weeks if not months until they finally reach max light to infuse anything into the rigs. so you essentially have to leave gear behind until you hit max light which for new players and casual players will take a long time, so long that the next season might hit before they reach max light and then the light level will be increased again