no, indeed the statistics are affected as far as I can tell
There is one issue at the moment, equipped weapons render monsters invulnerable, when your class shouldnt be wearing the weapon... I.E. I tried to use a ghoulbane on my monk.... the procs works tho =)
As far as the armor goes, all other players see the armor, stats increase, I run around in full plate jump kicking skeletons. haha
I am looking for more practicle uses for this offset. Clickable Items, I.E. Donals vamps of mourning (click valor buff, also 125 point hp increase)
I heard that the offset to trade no drops is exploitable too, im working on that one.