I know that some gear like BLM stuff is said to help draw on ambient aether, and some WHM gear is passed down from A-Towa-Cant and others, but is gear actually magical in some way? Do rings have a mechanical effect in-universe? What about enchanted items?

Clearly some weapons (relic weapons) are better than others, and get improved by being charged up with Atma and memories of the dying and whatnot but what would that actually do?

Thank you for your consideration. I apologize if this is already covered somewhere, but if it is I can't find it.