New to raids help

Hey guys. Hope yall having fun! Im lvl 161 and idk if im geared for raids nor do I know the best way to approach raids. 2 questions. Im gearing up the SS armor (dont know if I like my shotgun build but I always use my hunting .50 cal for things), is that a good all around armor set? 2nd question. I see a lot of cryogenic builds in events. Is power armor and cryogenic meta or can u get similar stats with ballistic? Thanks guys and see you out there!