Sell the black armor, its upkeep is not worth the stats. Churburg should be fine, though if you use the sword of war and other expensive gloves/helmet/etc. you will have same issues with upkeep. If you can get solid higher-end mail armor rather than plate you shouldn't have problems and still have good protection. Once you hit level 31 you can click the retirement button without going through with it and see the heirloom stats for all your items at all 3 heirloom levels. Many masterwork weapons add +1 speed, +3 damage, and masterwork mid-tier armor and up gives +7 armor, so its more of a persoanl preference. Do you feel like youa re dying too quick or taking too many hits to kill people? The heirlooms won't change much but they do help a little bit.
