Is my character weak?

[Talon_Moonshadow]

My main character has 106 past life feats.
And all of my characters have access to pretty much any gear I really want. (with some raid exceptions.)

That does not mean your first character is weak by any means.

You just have to realize that there are a lot of players who have been here a loooooong time.

[C-Dog]

To get to the heart of the question, I'll add this...

Is my character weak?

There are several metrics which have been suggested in the forums as a "benchmark" for solid performance from a character. Note that, in this sense, "a character" is a combination of the build, the gear, the past lives and the player skill - don't discount the latter for making the most of the DPS you have and keeping a toon alive just a little longer.

1) 3 strikes: If, at level, you can kill a target in 3 blows, you're doing well. Thwack, thwack, thwack, next. If it takes more/fewer, adjust the rating accordingly.

2) Solo quest vs. Level. If you can solo Elite at level - that is, at Level 7, if you can solo most Level 5 Quests (+2 for Elite = 7, "at level"), you're doing very well. If you can't solo that on Hard (Character Level 7, Quest 5+1 for Hard), or a quest 1-2 levels lower on Elite, then your character is "weak". Note that this doesn't have to be a fast run (in fact, a zerg might be a flawed measure) - but if you can finish, even with a single healer hire, then you're doing fine. If you struggle to finish but finish, you're still probably above the average alt.

3) Kill count vs. your gear. This is a tougher one (takes some experience), but if you have middling gear and can still match kills consistently with most of a party, you're doing fine. If your gear sucks but you're still getting half the kills of the leader, you're doing fine - but you do need better gear. (This varies with the build - as mentioned above, "Sword and Board" is not a high-DPS build, so adjust accordingly.)

And there are a LOT of variables with all those - some quests are tougher at-level, some parties are one-shot killers, and vice versa. Don't look at one quest or one weekend of gaming, look at the overall picture.

[Oliphant]

Is this because they have past lives?

Likely. There are 48 epic past lives, 40+ racial past lives, 40+ heroic past lives, iconic past lives. That stuff adds up.

I'm assuming you are in a guild and get guild buffs, but those make a big difference too.