The point is that by the time you start finding artifacts and relics, your party is pretty tough, and when their stats are that good, the break points (where a drop in a stat actually reduces an ability) are quite widely separated. I generally find that equipping my archer with Apollo costs him 2 or 3 hit points and that's all - well worth the advantages of the extra armour class and resistance bonuses. And Hades' -ve regen can be countered by the simple expedient of wearing an item of regeneration.The relics to think twice about are the ones which cost in terms of ability rather than stats, or the ones which reduce stats a lot.
