It is both ways for me. I want raid gear the go to gear. I want crafted gear to ultimately be the best under harsh conditions, such as it is now.

The problem with current coffer gear is that most of it has stats that even one materia attachment can dominate. Make it like 3+ materia slots to make the crafted gear better. Make the crafters work hard for the better gear.

The main problem is lousy rare/ex. gear, that is all. Make the stats more worthwhile in rare/ex. gear, and balance will start kicking in. I will see how future rare/ex. gear holds up when more is released to properly criticize it.