of course items matters... items matters the most in
duels where both players use melee skills like zeal or fury coz u only use 1 skill and just have to press ur mousebutton and hold it u dont need any skill for doing that
backstepping/shift attacking
timing
positioning summons
attacking their summons
cycling auras
Dueling is comprised of
1/5th Experience/Knowledge
1/5th Reflexes/Focus/Skill
1/5th Gear/Charms/Weapons
1/5th PCperformance/Latency
1/5th Luck
Threaded Mode