Crafted gear is better than NPC gear any day of the week, as well as being able to attach your own materia is very handy. 2star crafted gear with materia or NPC gear lol which do you think will perform better? Again crafted hands down. Also don't forget making your own dyes for gear as well as other special recipes. Buying gear at the board like Obelisk for Dragoon is very expensive, but with 50 mining and blacksmithing it's a gather and craft then meld affair which saves a lot of gil.