Not sure what the point of this post is (since it's a no brainer), or this entire conversation to be honest. Almost seems like you're trying to shit on my progress for some weird reason.
Treat them as assistance. They aren't that important, add to them when you feel it's time.
I wouldn't say dips aren't important. They are one of the best upper body exercises you can do. There’s variations in grips and depth in them as well, along with variations that involve leg lifts or knee tucks which does your core at the same time.
With a weighted vest or a belt with some plates attached to it, dips = squats for upper body. They use a ton of stabilizer muscles, your core, shoulders, back, chest, triceps, lats, and traps.
I would check dip stands with alternate grips, so you can hold your hands in an inner position and outer, as well as wide and narrow grips. That allows you to hit different muscle groups. Check out the Ultimate Body Press Dip Bar.
My arms, especially my triceps, have never been so cut and defined (which also makes my arms look bigger at 170lb then when I was 190lb) until I added dips to my routine with a gradual progression to weighted dips about a year ago.
(Incase you're wondering how many I do now after a year, at my current weight of 170 I do either 30 reps no vest with varying grips on each set for 4 sets, or with a 40lb weighted vest 16 reps for 4 sets. I do this before any of my lifts which involve chest/shoulder/tricep/push movements. When I first started I could barely do 8 reps for 3 sets.)
