It's not true, Cloths are one of the best investments in the game, whether your power is low or high .. The amount of attributes given by the Cloths are great, just like the Exquisite Silk Clothing that gives 300 Ninjutsu and 150 Initiative, but the overall BP increase may vary due to your Mooded stats .. It is almost the same when you invest in getting refines .. Though you may opt to piece the clothing slowly thru getting fragments of it from events using free points .. Same with the Medium Refines, you can get some of it from events for free like the Fishing Buddy event we have this cycle, you can get it using free points from free baits, from Monthly Event and other Events .. Now it's all up to you, what do you want to achieve first, a high leveled equipment or good clothing .. Both of them gives power, but if you want sure power and you only care about the numbers of your BP then go for the Cloth ..