There is a mod that was only available on the Steam Workshop that has been uploaded to the Nexus:
https://www.nexusmods.com/divinityoriginalsin2definitiveedition/mods/244Divinity Unleashed overhauls the armour system to make effects work even if the armour is not depleted. It makes the necessity to focus on damage alone obsolete and it also enhances the tactical viability of various builds including hybrid builds.
I haven't tested it yet but the mod has been out on the Steam Workshop for 4 months so we can expect it to be pretty stable.
There is a pdf detailing all the changes and I'm positive that all these changes can only make for a much better experience.
The way the game works if you don't stick to easy difficulty you have to choose if you're going to focus on physical or magical damage for your entire party simply because armour needs to be depleted in order for status effects to apply. So in the unmodded game damage is what matters and damage alone.
Last but not least, the mod does prevent some cheesy tactics from being abused which is another perk. All in all this sounds like a terrific modification that will correct some of the worst flaws of an otherwise great game.