Yup, cause at the begining Knuckle attack was bugged and wasn't using str bonus I think (I wasn't thinking of using knuckles back when I read about that bug, so I'm not sure exactly what was the problem). Right now it is much better.
As for def/eva - would be really great, but no high lvl armor grants a BM high def, or evasion buff. As far as 39 - where I used Guardian armor on Zire, I could take on 3-4 elites my lvl at once. When mobs get higher lvl, and I don't have eva buffed armor with decent def to wear, killing one becomes pain