I very much agree,
It really kills build diversity, I think the stats should do something else besides a bit of damage scaling on specific weapons and allowing you to use those weapons.
I don’t quite think your suggestion works for me, because it forces you into certain elements and I don’t quite like that. Also I see some issues with balance but you’ve got the right idea to split the stats from weapon requirements and making the stats do something else.
I even made a suggestion about it in the forums: here
If you got a minute pls give it a read and a vote so the devs can see that there’s interest in it.