[Lolzytripd]

The point some people are trying to make here is that statting up a tank or mage already feels unique,  you have so little need for stats comparatively to basic attackers that you can just fit in less-than-desirable stats to sort of fuel your desires with, a mage can slot in almost any element that they want, even acid and still have unique traits apart from other mages, liikewise for tanks.

The point that is being made in regards to basic attacking, and why it devolves to this, is because basic attacking's stat tax is tremendous, and item scaling is not diverse enough to support that.

Imagine for a moment, there should be at least 1 of the following archetypes of scaling for every single weapon:
-Primarily or entirely STR scaling weapon
-Primarily or entirely WIL scaling weapon
-Primarily SKI scaling weapons
-Primarily or entirely GUI scaling weapons.
-Primarily LUC scaling weapons

I think we've hit a certain point where STR has become worth it as a stat again, and so we can open up avenues where builds are not required to be using it, for example:

-What if the Magical Weapon line was 100% WIL 10% STR
-What if some Katanas like Hisen/Sogensara were more dexterity based, scaling from SKI/GUI

and so many more possibilities. The point that is being made here is that its going to devolve to basic attacking, because basic attacking or dodging feels unfair compared to just bulking up and hiding behind a shield while throwing rocks or water.

ADDENDUM: I don't think Dev ever intended for us to be putting in so many stats, given how the soft cap used to work at the start of GR I think the original intention was to have 40 + racial base in a stat in order to maximize its effiecency, bit as ot stands..we're going upwards to the higher 50s and lower 60s, perhaps this could also be the problem, and also why tanking is so efficient comparatively to other methods.

which is why I feel Strength and guile need a divorce, where both are good for critting and basic attacking, but both aren't required. I believe the best way to do that is taking away crit damage from guile (which also lets daggers have higher swa with better, purer guile scalings) and give guile something new to do, such as bypassing DR at .5% per stat increase.  Crit damage would then return to Pre gr calculations, 200% base before weapon modifiers/class skills.

In fact giving guile DR penetration fits thematically with the acid element, and could even lead to a new breed of mages that put less points in tank stats and more points into guile so the can bypass a portion of the enemy's magic defense.

with this basic attackers would only have to slot into Strength or Guile +Skill and Luck. They would then have the same degree of freedom autohit/mage builds have. The problem with buffing basic attacks in any other way that lets them build more uniquely without divorcing strength from guile results in weapons that scale on guile being too free and become Omnitanks that also do dump trucks of damage.