Arizona-Willie: Well I found out the answer.

I was level 24 and ran into a level 19 boss with that triple health bar and it was kicking my butt.

I was wearing my Griffin armor set.

I took it off and donned the armor with the highest points and the highest point weapons I had and defeated that boss easily. Didn't even break a sweat.

So, apparently, any bonus for wearing a complete set doesn't amount to much.

So it seems to be non-optimal to stick with an armor set if you have weapons / armor with higher values use it and drop the set items.

Of course, the Griffin set is the lowest of all the sets --- kinda of a beginners set.

Still worth finding all the other armor sets though for the completion factor alone.

At least once 1.07 comes out and they give us storage locations so we can stow the sets of armor we aren't using.

bricbrac: It depends on your build/ play style-- The gryphon set is for a magic build (each piece gives an increase to sign intensity), Feline set is for a fast swordsman build or stamina focused builds (each piece increases stamina regen), bear is for strong attack, tanky builds or an alchemy build (lower stamina regen, higher adrenaline), wolf set is a mix of bear and feline. The bonus is per piece not for wearing the whole set (unless you've spent points right school, which gives a bonus for the type of armor not the set) Each set can be upgraded 3 times. (making for 4 tiers)

Personally, I used the Feline set all the way through but any of them would work assuming that the set matches your build. Or at least doesn't interfere with it.

Wolfehunter: I stuck with the griffin armor until I saw the wolf armor.. That is my preferred look. :)