Only if you are gonna use argon. Don’t have to. You can just use flux core wire, but it is smokey and splatters and can make seeing your wet puddle more difficult. Seeing the puddle to keep it uniform and moving is the hard part when learning. When you can’t see it to control it things get wonky and ugly. Argon would help you through that process faster, makes for cleaner work, but it’s not a must have. I learned on flux core, then when I finally hooked into argon a year or so later it was like well fuk that would’ve been nice to have started out with. Keep in mind argon can be a pain outdoors if you have breezes. In the shop it’s great. Learn both!