You're wrong, but even if that were the case, how's the current state of the game any different, please tell?
Back when 51s where a thing, I could get 100k HP on a Vit Def easily, with one weapon mind you, while Temps would dish out 2k-2.5k, maybe 4k with Arcane, Alm Scroll and 20s. That would mean 25 hits without accounting for block chance, tear drops, holy wine, Obli, Psy Shield, sit spamming, full heal, etc.etc.
Temps were ridiculously powerful against anything that had no DD or was full str/dex/agi/psy/int with their 15k-20k HP, but that's to be expected if you are a offensively built. Back then, Templar needed DN to just be able to fight, yet most of the time people didn't bother disabling the Def who was keeping the Temp up, and instead charged head-on against the Temp. And the Def just sits there and tanks the damage. I know a number of players who beat Templar back then on a regular basis, it wasn't impossible, you just needed to play smart.