Which items did you pick up early in the game, and just never unequip?

[e11]

i'm well into the third act by this point, and for my paladin:

The Haste Helm, because I can't smite from a distance.

That ring that adds a bit to my movement, because see above.

Gloves of the Growling Underdog, because ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, advantage during an extremely common combat situation? Yes! Goes well with Great Weapon Master.

And I don't know if this counts as early, but after forging the Adamantine Splint Armor I haven't been able to justify taking it off. I would like to get something better looking, but it is simply superior.

[Dizzy Ladybug]

Ring of Protection, Deathstalker Mantle, Titanstring Bow, Phalar Aluve

all nice gear to I like to equip and use for the whole game 🙂

[id795078477]

You will probably replace the gloves when you get the Risky Ring (depending on the party, of course) mid-game. If you go with the ring, you might want to consider Gloves of Dexterity or Helldusk Gloves.
On melee martials, Haste Helmet could be replaced with the Horns of Berserker (late game) or Circlet of Hunting (mid game), but honestly the Haste Helmet is viable the full game and it just depends what on you need more.

Most "good" things in this game are sort of "BiS" and itemization is not really that great. There are a lot of "meh" items and a handful of "must have" ones.

[EricHVela]

Amulet for talking to capable corpses. (Discovered early on that corpses with no head or burnt to a crisp can't speak.)

[Omegatherion]

Karlachs head. I pick it up right after the grove and it stays in my inventory until the credits roll.

[Brian_the_Brute]

Gloves of Dexterity from the creche, turn Dex into an 8 and respec. +10 ability points from early on is nice. Hill giant is a better number, but is towards end of game and goes to someone else.
Caustic Ring. +2 to every melee all game long. +4 with dual wield.
Psychic Spark for that +1 MM, it's 100% (except for force immune)
Periapt of Wound Closure, lots of extra heals and stabilizes.
Boots of Speed.
Adamantine Shield for Shart, usually only player I keep a shield on for the game.
Ring of Flinging if I have a Tavern Brawler tosser.

[DontMisunderstand]

Currently preparing for to fight Orin and almost all of my gear is something I got in Act 1.