So..basically RO1? I agree.
Oh, we're back to this again, awesome. Do not want. Sure, buggy state atm isn't thrilling either, but "basically RO1" makes for a prettysour goal itself.
I have since withdrawn my proposal to change WIS stat into DEX stat as I have clearly seen that having a 5-stat system is inherently more unbalanced than the function of WIS. Therefore, my revised proposal is to add the DEX stat into RO2 while keeping the WIS stat.
Coming from my other stat reevaluation thread and seeing the response on that, I now propose these changes to the stat system:
Implement the Dexterity (DEX) stat - Having attack speed, dodge, hit rate, accuracy and critical all on the same stat (AGI) is fine for a SINGLE-PLAYER RPG, but NOT for a MULTIPLAYER RPG. Take hit rate and accuracy off of AGI and put them into a DEX stat. Have it function similarly to RO1's DEX where Archer classes benefit more attack power from DEX than STR. If you want to differentiate from RO1's stats, then feel free to name this stat Concentration (CON).
Make WIS stat the main critical stat - With DEX/CON taking the purpose of hit rate and accuracy, the purpose of critical hit rate should fall to WIS.
Change Stat Bonuses to Attribute Bonuses on Weapons & Gear - I never liked the idea of gear and weapons giving stat bonuses to ALL stats. I don't need boosts in all of my stats 'cause my character won't make use of ALL of them (and I don't want it to). Make it so each weapon and gear boost particular attributes instead (i.e. attack speed instead of +AGI) and put rune holes in place of stat bonuses.
Remove Stats in Cards - Replace them with attribute bonuses and elemental resistance bonuses. Make it so +cards give you % modifiers. Since cards can be switched out, this will allow players to adjust their characters at will. Elemental weapons would add a boost to this.
I'm first off noticing that you're taking your original twist and trying hard to... compromise... in how much RO1 you are asking for. You're not asking for just a full carry over, you're being selective and even mentioning things not related to RO1. This I have to appreciate.
Still not thrilled with the matchup factor involving 'bow damage' though... (am noticing that "Con" note, it does put me in a calm mood)... the basic idea of splitting stats up a little better isn't actually that bad of an idea. In fact, I know a few MMOs that did the whole "Magic Crit = Wis" idea too, making it all crit isn't itself a bad idea either, but beyond that I'm not personally confident in exactly how you matched things up. The concept is good, the implementation may need some adjustments.
The game is addressing gear as a factor of... growth scaling, similar to a level up, but more intense (so more valuable than a level up, but dependent on level). To do this, they have to grow everything... but they grow things based on the class that uses it. The idea after that is to give players the ability to tweek gears similar to the stat adjustments you get for leveling up, which is why things look as they do. I do agree, they haven't been keeping in control of this of late... but this won't encourage an item system that isn't linear growth. The game is linear, one of the linear designs is to have it so that, with all gear, you're not left with the dispute and dilemma of choices, very simply one gear is better than another. With linear growth on gears, they pretty much have to push up everything.
The % modifiers isn't at all sustainable, and is one of the factors that killed RO1s growth potential. However, you do have a pretty good concept here in that, instead of raising the base stats, cards could directly give bonuses to some of the factors grown by those stats. We're also still waiting for the elemental resistance they have slated for both affinities on body armor and the "take x less damage from all elementals" for resistance, which is going along with the penetration's "reduce targets defense due to using elemental damage". That should mix things up a bunch.