I’ve seen this armor set take a lot of heat, and I am willing to defend its use in a boon/healing support role. Classes which most naturally fill this role are Guardian and Staff Ele, and chaosmancer/ Mantra heal Mesmer builds. I have done a few calculations, and I feel as though it can be used in builds which make use Clerics armor inherently.
I have chosen to provide evidence that a mesmer can make use of certain pieces of Giver’s Armor and come out ahead of the Clerics alternative. My calculations will not include ANY boons provided to teammates, but keep in mind that many of these boons are in fact shared with the team.
Mesmers attempting to maximize boonshare have a few options of doing so. One of the more common alternatives is to use Mantra of Recovery with a full compliment of Superior Altruism runes, along with 30 into the Chaos Trait line and Chocoloate Omnomberry Cream. This set up provides you with +65% boon duration.
Assuming the Toughness/Healing swap on stat weight between Givers and clerics is approximately equivalent, then we are essentially trading Power for Boon duration. Because of the very poor scaling of boon duration on the chest armor, helm and gloves, I would recommend against these armor borne Boon duration slots. Filling the remaining slots with Givers Armor and replacing a single exotic accessory with a Snowflake orichalcum earring would net you a total loss of power = 127 (24 from gloves, shoulders, boots, 55 from Trinket), and for this you obtain 5% additional boon duration. (bringing our hypothetical build up to 70% boon duration)
I have decided to consider approximately 30 seconds of game time (based on skill cooldowns) to do this comparison. In 30 seconds, under less than ideal conditions, very obtainable boons are as follows:
Durations listed are with (no boon duration)(65%)(70%)(Total Effective seconds)
~3x 3 stacks of might from Superior sigil of battle (20s )(33s)(34s)(60s, 99s, 102s)
~2x 3 stacks of might from Mantra/Altruism (10s)(16.5s)(17s)(20s, 33s, 34s)
~2x Fury from Mantra/Altruism (5s)(8.25s)(8.5s)(10s, 16.5s, 17s)
~3x Regeneration from phantasms (5s)(8.25s)(8.5s) (15s, 13.6s, 14s)
~1x Regeneration from Chaos Storm (3s) (4.95s)(5.1s)
~1x Protection from chaos storm (3s) (4.95s)(5.1s)
~1x Regeneration from Metaphysical Rejuvination (10s)(16.5s)(17s)
~2x Protection from Illusory Membrane (3s)(4.95s)(5.1s)(6s, 9.9s, 10.2s)
~2x Protection from Chaos Shield (5s)(8.25s)(8.5s)(10s, 16.5s, 17s)
~2x Regeneration from Chaos Shield (3s)(4.95s)(5.1s)(6s, 9.9s, 10.2s)
Adding Effective seconds of Boon uptime divided by the 30 seconds of total combat time, we get an effective average of boon up time per second: (+65% vs +70%)
Might: 65%: 13.2 stacks of might/s 70%: 13.6 stacks of might/s
Fury: 65%: ~0.55 “stacks” of fury/s 70%: ~0.566 “stacks” of fury/s
Regeneration: 65%: 1.5 “stacks” of regen/s 70%: 1.54 “stacks” of regeneration/s
Protection: 65%: 1.21 “Stacks” of protection/s 70%: 1.25 “stacks” of protection/s
the difference between 65% and 70% is what we are interested in, so those are:
0.4 stacks of might = 14 power and 14 condition dmg
0.016 stacks of fury = ~7 precision (20% Crit chance = ~420 precision x 0.016 = ~7)
0.04 “stacks” of regeneration = ~350hp per second X 0.04 = 420hp = 42 Vitality
0.04 “stacks” of protection = (-33% dmg turns 2800 armor into an effective ~4200 armor) this is ~0.04 * 1400 toughness = 56 toughness
Looking at these stats, you are essentially trading 127 power (from clerics) for:
14 power, 14 condition dmg, 7 precision, 42 vitality, and 56 toughness which totals 133 “total” stat weight on yourself alone. Once you start spreading boons to allies (either directly or through signet of inspiration) The difference begins to multiply.
TL;DR: If the correct pieces of armor are replaced in the right build, you can come out ahead in total stat weight from the additional duration of boons provided.