I've prepared a spreadsheet with all the data you could ever need on this, but ultimately, the results are as follows. Armours compared are:
Best Armour Value
Far-Arrow's Armour is the best in terms of pure armour stats, with a total armour bonus of 3,247. Coming in a close second is the Lady's Discernment, with 3,096.
Best Radiance Value
Again, Far-Arrow tops the list with 30 rad / piece (180 total). Swift Arrow comes in at 25 for each of its 3 pieces, making its total bonus higher if you mix and match (say with L. Discernment, which would give you a total of 135) than you would have if you chose, for example, the full Lady's Discernment set (120 total).
The Great Bow set also has a fairly good total for starting Rad gear of 80 (the head and shoulders heh give 20 rad each). Downside is of course the need to run the watcher all the freaking time to get those two pieces. Of course, you have that with the other top-tiers as well, but why bother running the watcher when you could just go run for Swift Arrow which gives +5 per piece anyway? Total Rad if you mixed and matched 4/2 from Great Bow/Swift Arrow is +90.
Best Agility Value
There's a lot of debate possible in this category. Overall, the Far-Arrow's Armour again beats out the others, if only because of the leggings and gloves (which are a point higher each over Keen sight and 3 points each over Lady's Discernment).
Best Power Value
None of the top-tier armour sets for Hunters have any power bonuses for Gloves. That said, this category varies widely between armour sets. In comparison with Far-Arrow's, the results are mixed:
Also a consideration is the armour's ICMR value. Only a few pieces have this bonus, though (Boots, Gloves and Leggings). Top in those pieces are Great Bow (185.4), Keen Sight (53.4) and Aurochs (120), respectively.
Last but not least are all the "secondary" bonuses from various bits and pieces (aka "set bonuses", etc). Few of the rad gear pieces offer any Agility bonuses, and only a couple offer power set bonuses. Some nice bonuses are IC and NH cooldown reduction (Great Bow), +5% chance for ranged defence debuff (Far Arrow), +756 Shadow Defence (Far Arrow also), -18% PS cost (Lady's Discernment) and -10% Heart Seeker Recovery Time (Hawk-eye). I'll leave it up to y'all to discuss the various merits therein.
Conclusion
Overall, it appears that the Far-Arrow armour set offers the greatest bonuses in general, with a few nice perks here and there. The fact that it's also top-tier rad gear is a bonus as well. It's not out-of-this-world fantastic on Power bonuses, but biggest minus is the Boots, so if you're willing to sacrifice 10 Radiance, 18 armour and 3 Agility for 170 power, there's nothing else you'll be missing out on (the set bonus is for 5/6).
Hope this has helped at least a few people. Feel free to use/manipulate the spreadsheet as you see fit.
- Far-Arrow
- Keen Sight
- Lady's Discernment
- Swift Arrow
- Great Bow
- Arrow-fletcher
- Trapsetter
- Pathfinder
- Hawk-eye
- Aurochs
- Hlifheror
- Doom-hunter
Best Armour Value
Far-Arrow's Armour is the best in terms of pure armour stats, with a total armour bonus of 3,247. Coming in a close second is the Lady's Discernment, with 3,096.
Best Radiance Value
Again, Far-Arrow tops the list with 30 rad / piece (180 total). Swift Arrow comes in at 25 for each of its 3 pieces, making its total bonus higher if you mix and match (say with L. Discernment, which would give you a total of 135) than you would have if you chose, for example, the full Lady's Discernment set (120 total).
The Great Bow set also has a fairly good total for starting Rad gear of 80 (the head and shoulders heh give 20 rad each). Downside is of course the need to run the watcher all the freaking time to get those two pieces. Of course, you have that with the other top-tiers as well, but why bother running the watcher when you could just go run for Swift Arrow which gives +5 per piece anyway? Total Rad if you mixed and matched 4/2 from Great Bow/Swift Arrow is +90.
Best Agility Value
There's a lot of debate possible in this category. Overall, the Far-Arrow's Armour again beats out the others, if only because of the leggings and gloves (which are a point higher each over Keen sight and 3 points each over Lady's Discernment).
Best Power Value
None of the top-tier armour sets for Hunters have any power bonuses for Gloves. That said, this category varies widely between armour sets. In comparison with Far-Arrow's, the results are mixed:
- Armour - Trapsetter's - +82 power, -79 Armour, -22 Agility
- Boots - Lady's Discernment - +170 power, -18 Armour, -3 Agility
- Helm - Trapsetter's - +76 Power, -28 Armour, -1 Agility
[It should be noted that the Hlifheror Helm grants more power than the Far-Arrow's, but only on-use, and is therefore not as effective. - Leggings - Swift Arrow - +42 Power, -78 Armour, -3 Agility
- Shoulder Guards - Trapsetter's - +170 Power, -28 Armour, -1 Agility / Lady's Discernment - +170 Power, -13 Armour, -1 Agility
Also a consideration is the armour's ICMR value. Only a few pieces have this bonus, though (Boots, Gloves and Leggings). Top in those pieces are Great Bow (185.4), Keen Sight (53.4) and Aurochs (120), respectively.
Last but not least are all the "secondary" bonuses from various bits and pieces (aka "set bonuses", etc). Few of the rad gear pieces offer any Agility bonuses, and only a couple offer power set bonuses. Some nice bonuses are IC and NH cooldown reduction (Great Bow), +5% chance for ranged defence debuff (Far Arrow), +756 Shadow Defence (Far Arrow also), -18% PS cost (Lady's Discernment) and -10% Heart Seeker Recovery Time (Hawk-eye). I'll leave it up to y'all to discuss the various merits therein.
Conclusion
Overall, it appears that the Far-Arrow armour set offers the greatest bonuses in general, with a few nice perks here and there. The fact that it's also top-tier rad gear is a bonus as well. It's not out-of-this-world fantastic on Power bonuses, but biggest minus is the Boots, so if you're willing to sacrifice 10 Radiance, 18 armour and 3 Agility for 170 power, there's nothing else you'll be missing out on (the set bonus is for 5/6).
Hope this has helped at least a few people. Feel free to use/manipulate the spreadsheet as you see fit.