I fully understand. I also love hunting down the perfect set of gear in games. Plus, it isn't as if the other stats don't help in some fashion or another. I just do find it a bit annoying, to not have equipment that is geared for specifics. So having Legendary gear that has less mix-matching stats is a very welcome idea. It might also be a neat way to introduce 'side-quests' so to speak. As in, while exploring main areas you could run into notes/npcs. That tell you about a new area that is specifically much more challenging. But you only need to worry about clearing it 1 time. As the reward would be a full set of legendary gear. That way you could kill 2 birds with a singular stone. By (possibly) introducing lore alongside great rewards.
Best example I can give. The protagonist finding an old terminal. It speaks of another dawn-touched that was a savior of sorts to that planet. Telling a brief tale of their heroics and special ability. It then tells of a possible resting place for that dawn-touched. But no one knows for certain as it's infested with traps and powerful creatures. Once finished with exploring their current area, the protagonist can go attempt a new mission/area. Which of course, would lead to the legendary gear. That gives the protagonist the same special ability as the old dawn-touched.
As for the eating items/gear. You could introduce Special Skills that can be only activated once per mission run. These could also be rewards for clearing out specialized challenge areas. Going with the theme of eating gear, here is an example.
(By holding down a button for 2-3 seconds)
"The dawn-touched voraciously grabs and devours whatever is in front of them. Seeing the ravenous glint in your eyes and a starving smile. Even the strongest enemy's quake in fear at your approach."
"Should you devour something else in your maddened state. Such as a piece of gear you didn't see in your fit of hunger. In exchange for 'permanently' taking up some space in your stomach. Gain the stats of the equipment you swallowed. Until the end of your current exploration."