Help with NPCs and "equipment"
Firstly, I'm fairly new to Cypher System so if I'm misunderstanding something, please correct me.
As I understand it, though, NPC equipment effectively doesn't matter. A lvl 2 Guard is going to defend worse and attack worse than a lvl 4 Guard even if they are wearing the exact same thing, because this is an abstract system. So by that logic, most lvl 2 things are just effectively worse at wielding weapons than even a tier 1 PC.
That's all fine, I'm cool with abstract systems and all. I get it.
But if that's the case, then what is the point of things like "Disarming Attack" or anything similar that affects equipment? If I, a PC, were to disarm that lvl 2 Guard, he could then just punch me for the exact same damage. The same for the lvl 4 Guard.
Furthermore, if I have some kind of weird, but highly effective Cypher that disintegrates armor in the area (yes, I understand this is a very niche example), that Cypher won't ever actually do anything since all the lvl 4 Guards will still defend as lvl 4's and still have 12 health. (Since you don't take into account armor for NPCs)
Am I misunderstanding something? Or does equipment just not matter at all for NPCs. I feel like I'm doing something wrong or I'm just "not getting" this aspect of Cypher System.