You are assuming the defense would be weaker, T1 balances it out to keep people from just saying 'I stronger, your defense can do nothing', in my view. They also refer more so to magic, which, again, is often balanced out during the selection process before the fight. Your points are valid, but would be best served for a discussion where their is a big difference in character level.

Also, back to what Skallagrim said - common sense and logic. If you have a diamond sword, and he has a bamboo stick, there is no way your sword is gonna break just because he aims at it with bamboo. That also assumes all things are balanced out prior to actual combat.