No, not in a fight.

Someone asked this:
>Would joe blow suicidal dwarf rager with 21(25) con have level gains
> based on his unmodified 21?

Zulg replied "Yes"

Now in a previous conversation with Daevryn I had suggested losing con was a reason to hero quickly and he said something to the effect of "why not just wear con gear"

Now maybe I'm not understanding something here but it sounds like Zulg is saying that levels gains are based on your unmodified stats and Daev was saying it's your modified stats. I've always thought wearing gear got you the level gains of your current wis/int/con with gear, status effects and so on. (I know it does for wisdom and pracs anyway).

So how does it work? Does wearing gear fix your level gains or not?