At each age in the progression the level 1 armor is equal to the level 4 of the previous age. Not until level 2 or 3 does the new set begin to show value. But neither the carapace set nor the padded set are best for navigating the terrain of Mistlands. I use the Fenrir set with the feather cape to scout a new area and carry level 2 carapace when I find something to melee or mine. Many find that level 2 carapace is not worth it and I tend to agree. In previous ages I would usually wait until level 3 before switching unless the new set had some distinct advantage such as the cold protection in the wolf set or the poison/pierce protection of the root set. But the nutrition changes with the new cauldron are complete and the health and stamina boosts from the new foods are amazing. I'm not sure about fishing since the stamina advantage of fish-and-bread over salad is not much and the ingredients for salad are much easier to come by. As for the magic set, I only just got the level 2 eitr set with the staffs and returned to earlier (and easier) biomes to learn the new blood and elemental skills. The dead-raiser is interesting and parking by a greydwarf spawner and letting my minions fight brutes just keeps ticking the blood skill level at a hefty rate. As @Luminous Dark has mentioned the player reviews are still mixed (as the developers predicted) and I'll confess that my first exposure to Mistlands was when the seeker event destroyed my nice meadows base so I was not a fan. It is still not my favorite biome (Mountains and Plains) but I'm only just getting comfortable with the new demands of Mistlands and when the level 3 and 4 crafting updates come out it will likely get much much better.