Yes. They don’t matter. In part because the game is very stingy with them. In another part because of you actually need a level up you’re going to get what you need much faster going to a nice farming spot and starting from scratch. In third part because they’re nothing compared to the value of weapon upgrades and flask upgrades.
The game is also just unintuitive when it comes to defensive stats. Putting lots of points into endurance to wear the biggest armor is nothing compared to boosting vigor. Armor mostly sucks tbh.
Honestly I haven't farmed in the game ever. I'm not sure why I would need to. I do agree that some things are not as intuitive though, like armor. Or that poise is what's important, because it is about knockback.
You will have to farm a bit in late game if you want to try out different equipment. Because due to yet another stupid leveling system, any gear that isn’t upgraded is worse than the shittiest club with upgrades. So if you want to try anything else in the end game you need to go farm runes to buy stones to upgrade your weapons. Not terribly slow, but annoying and it could have been avoided entirely.
I was able to max level maybe a dozen weapons for funsies without any grinding involved. Later in the game, Hero's Runes and similar are laying around like candy.
The game is also just unintuitive when it comes to defensive stats. Putting lots of points into endurance to wear the biggest armor is nothing compared to boosting vigor. Armor mostly sucks tbh.