Quote Originally Posted by MithrasInvictus View Post
Until you start getting iLVL70+ gear, literally everything crafted is better. The HQ versions have the same stats as their dungeon equivalents, but you can meld them, which effectively makes them outclass (very easily) the dungeon drops. I'm open to debate, but I am unsure that you will be able to find an example of gear below iLVL70+ that doesn't have a better crafted counterpart. And 2* HQ crafted gear beats the ever living hell out of GC gear.
The stats on Aetherial match HQ. The thing with Aetherial is, it often has 2 additional stats and those two additional stats don't comply with materia caps. You end up with a materia melded item but better.