ok, i checked on the armor costs i was looking at, and here is what i have, the war kilt (10,000 VP) give you 8% defence, and the trooper's legging's (17,000) give you 20%, i think this value is a bit inproportunate to the cost to get them..... besides, the war kilt looks better that the legging's, surely that counts for something.....
are you talking about set boosts, or single item boosts? and by 1-40% he is talking about if you add the total % bonuses given by an item, if it gives boosts to more than one stat.
also possibly, fixed point bonuses, to add to my first suggestions.