I think in PvE, especially if you're playing solo/offline, or even just in a private lobby, that you should be able to choose the loadouts for your AI (/bot) teammates. You can limit it to just what you have unlocked. So armour/heraldry, weapon loadouts (including higher weapon tiers/variations you've unlocked), as well as perks you have unlocked. I think this would make it better as at the moment the bots are still pretty useless, and you're basically being penalised for not populating your lobby with human players.