That depends on how much end game viable gear they make really. If they make one set of gear that is the best in the game for hunters then every hunter in the game is going to chase that set. But if they make four viable sets to piece from then there may be variation. The light system and level system have split so you can constantly see progress (by gaining experience) but the light system still matters. Your attack values and defense values across all of your gear get averaged out, and this number is what's used to determine your defense and attack rating. This number will also be checked before entering certain activities. For example (and these are just made up numbers) instead of requiring level 32 to do the nightfall there is the possibility that you are required to have 300 light to do the nightfall. We still aren't exactly sure how these light checks will work, or if there will still be level checks as well, but they did say that some activities will check your light values to make sure the activity is doable.