Alternate Everquest

Tier X armor that doesn’t feel unique anymore, just fills in your gear “requirement” for that stage of the game.

When item quality is uneven then certain items become the "required" item. Think about how many casters are wearing Aviakian Helmet and Belt, or how many characters use IGS or any other item on my list.

those same stats feel weak on my sk.. it is all about class roles. The gear in Delvea is not specialized to roles, sadly.

Yes this is certainly part of the problem. The delvea gear is mostly all/all and at least somewhat useful on most classes (tank classes seem to be the exception here). This means that many items are the best or close to the best items available for their respective slots for at least one class, which is inappropriate for items so easy to obtain in my opinion. Making better options available in more difficult content is possible but might not be the best approach for reasons I have suggested above.

All we can do is the best we can with the best possible information available.

I agree with this and I think you brought up a good reason why we should not use the same formula for items regardless of class restrictions on the item. I also think that we can improve results by being systematic about how powerful to make items. I that sense I think that developing some quantitative guidelines can be part of a strategy for "doing our best". If you are at all open to the idea I could work on this and show at least an example of what I am talking about. If you don't like the idea whatsoever I'll just drop it and give feedback on items individually. In the absence of rules or guideline for items in general I don't see a way to approach item balance more efficiently than that.