Why Are Melee DPS Forced Into One Job Through Gear Yet Nobody Else Is?

[FeliAiko]

There's no particular reason SE couldn't have continued to put DEX on the Striking sets though (as they went back and did with the pre-2.4 equipment) and just allowed monk and ninja to share those sets.

Then you'd end up with NIN and MNK exclusively having 3 main stats (DEX/STR/VIT) compared to 2 main stats for the other jobs, which would upset job balance.

[FoxyAreku]

This has actually been an annoyance for me ever since Ninja came out or so, but for the opposite reason.

I don't want all my healers to share gear. Why do Dragoons get to be special snowflakes and have unique looking gear all the time yet my scholar has to look like a white mage? (And no, glamouring doesn't fix this, because even if I glamour on scholar specific gear my astrologian and white mage will look terrible.)

[Ibi]

Then you'd end up with NIN and MNK exclusively having 3 main stats (DEX/STR/VIT) compared to 2 main stats for the other jobs, which would upset job balance.

Strength doesn't do anything for ninja and dexterity doesn't do anything for monk. I'm not sure I understand why having both stats on the post-2.4 Striking gear would change that.

In fact, low level DoW gear (e.g. Raptorskin Jacket), together with all the pre-2.4 Striking sets (e.g. High Allagan Cuirass of Striking), already have both strength and dexterity.

[Rawrz]

Then you'd end up with NIN and MNK exclusively having 3 main stats (DEX/STR/VIT) compared to 2 main stats for the other jobs, which would upset job balance.

But back in 2.0 dex used to affect parry now it doesn't. A monk with +600 dex would be affected just as much as a WAR with +600 mind.... No reason other than avoiding confusion that they couldnt share sets. They are almost always just color swaps anyway.

TLDR
Dex does not help a Str class anymore. They could share again.