Coil ruined the craft.

[vp_cmc]

True, but when you then get items like the Wolfram Mask for the Dragoon, if melded correctly, is in fact better than both of the i110 Helms. People underestimate crafting too much. Proper and correct i90 penta-melds are far superior to some i110 items. Crafting items aren't useless, not one bit. People just don't know how to optimise them.

You aren't taking into account that items also have defense parameters. And 110 ilvl item defense is better than 90 ilvl no matter how melded it is. Yes, it matters.