I just made some 4 star gear (Seraphic mail & helm, and sinister skelly shield) so I could go down to tier 3.
Seraphic is supposed to give +3 health at lvl 1 heat (according to the Spiral Wiki) which angelic was giving me when it was lvl 5-10, but when I take my newly crafted gear into the clockworks I noticed that my health is missing a few bars.
The armor and helm were/are only give a +2 health bonus, less then its 3 star version.
I'd like to have not spent 800 CE on a set of armor that is weaker then the one that I upgrade from.
I've put in links to the wiki as well as my screenshots on Steam showing the differences in the bonus values
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Seraphic_Mail
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198046420016/screenshot/59695330...
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Clockworks#Equipment_Reduction