i think that would solve both the limitations of the current mod system, solve the technical limitations of too many mods shown in the UI at one time, and still require decision making of the players.
Once the armor is masterworked you could pay like 10 Enhancement cores (for example) to reroll the element of the armor.
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My masterwork armor is from the three ascendant shards I got from the pass and one I bought from banshee. The rest is from the pit. I was about to masterwork my dunemarchers today before I realized they cost 3 ascendant shards. That's just dumb