If the gear with effects is REQUIRED to do x content, then it's imbalanced. You want effects that help, but don't do things that are absolutely needed to clear whatever it is you're doing. It's a very careful balancing act and it can lead to imbalance to be sure, but that doesn't mean it's not worth putting in the game. Right now gear really is massively boring, you just get whatever is an upgrade, don't swap any gear for anything else unless you decide you don't need the extra accuracy and want a tiny gain in DPS/MP/mitigation/whatever. We're only in 2.0 so I expect things to change, but it really is dreadful atm.