Originally Posted by
Molly_Millions
From the test results I've seen that appears to be the case. On HQ gear, you can only add stats that are not on that gear already. For NQ gear, you can add those stats, but only as much as is on the HQ equivalent.
Using a Rubelite Ring as an example, the HQ version has +7 STR. You can't add any STR to an HQ Rubelite Ring. The NQ version has +5 STR, so you can only add +2 STR to one of those. You can, however, add +7 VIT or DEX to both an NQ or HQ Rubelite Ring.