The thing is, character builds depend on the equipment available. A sorcerer build for EfU would be totally different from one I'd use in a low magic environment, for example.
Thus, items and character design are not unrelated, and it could even be argued that testing the EfU builds thoroughly is impossible without allowing the use of any and all equipment available in the undermountain.
Of course, I don't quite agree with 'any and all', and I'll be victorious items or no ( [img]smile.gif[/img] ), but I do think it's important to remember it's not all that black and white.
As for the reward, though I hate to get ahead of myself, I've been shopping around for a throne of skulls for some time now but they just don't seem to make them any more these days. I'd quite like a seat in the arena where I can watch your battered and broken bodies decay in the months after I'm done with you lot