The person in HQ +INT gear who is also eating food... will still majorly out-damage the NQ noob wearing crap gear... and I have to point out for a new player it is WAY more cost effective to get stats from gear than from consumables - cause even if they level through their gear quickly - they can resell it. Money sunk into food is gone forever. A stack of cream puffs costs 11K and is only 6 hours worth of stat boosts.
Even myself with friends who have given me a lot would probably choose to eat apple pies, at 2K a stack. I just can't make enough money yet (I'm not in Abyssea) to keep up with food costs approaching 2K an hour.
