damage until level 25 always. Mob damage sucks so just literally upgrading the armor every 5 levels to one of the next tier is enough.
Level 25 i paid a significant sum for a pretty sick 100ee 7 crit 14 strength armor so it does both.
I find the lack of needing to go to town quicker for me than using a 45 strength level 35 armor.
Similarly at level 50 my 198ee tank armor is preferred to 61 strength. Especially at level 65+
I also seem to prefer doing about 85 vit, mostly for level 65-71, just means the shrines don't suck as much seeing they're % based and having high defense and high life stacks pretty nicely.
I've never had EE robes to really test how it works for monk/ninja, also doesn't help my daggers/dex gear are no where near my strength gear.