[az]

I play ball/dek on a rare occasion...

if I'm getting a set of gear together and grading the pieces by the level of quality, here's what I do:

Pro quality--
mask
throat protection (either dangler/collar)
cup

Never get cheap on protection for these areas, even for ball hockey. The danger here is not necessarily getting hit by the ball, but by other things, like wild sticks, players falling on you, etc.

Senior/mid-level quality--
c/a
gloves

The reason not to go pro quality with the c/a is simply heat retention. While a ball may sting or even bruise, catching a shot on your shoulder or ribs will not leave serious damage. I've played ball hockey with minor pros who all had cannons. The worse I've ever gotten is a couple red marks or a bruise. However, even an amateur ice hockey player can seriously hurt you with a puck if the puck hits in a totally unprotected portion of the torso. Also, it's easy to half-block a ball; if you just get a small bit of a shot with your shoulder or elbow pad, the ball will usually ricochet off you and away from the net wildly. This is not the case with a puck, which is heavier. A more substantial c/a is needed to get those deflection-type saves with a ice puck.

You could go low quality with gloves, however, usually super-cheap gloves are just completely horrible to use. At least with a mid-level glove, you should get something somewhat comfortable for your hands and that will enable you to block shots without fear.

low quality--
pants
pads

No matter how hard a ball is shot, it will not hurt your leg through any leg pad. For ball hockey, I use the lowest-level Tour street pad. It is more than sufficient to protect my legs. Plus leg mobility is at a premium for ball hockey and the light weight pads help with stamina (especially in the heat). Note, I'd wear pro-quality knee pads to supplement the nonexistent knee protection offered by cheap pads. Hell, I would play ball hockey in those old-skool Mylec pads with no problem.

As for pants: go cheap to reduce heat retention.