Quote Originally Posted by Espritduo View Post
Your item level is the only thing that matters for battle retainers, but gatherers solely look at your stats, with item level meaning nothing. Gathering is what determines the rare item threshold as well as the amount of items brought back from regular ventures. Perception increases the amount of HQ they bring back as well as reducing the amount of time it takes for them to do a venture.
For quick ventures? I have the most expensive NPC gear on all my DoL (I have one of each) but only my Fisher brings back "items most rare" and has the notification message that their gear is sufficient enough AND their gathering and perception is lower than the other two.