[Chaos]

I think that's because of the nature of hardcap vs. penalties.

You can have 85 STR, but only 80 of it ~counts~, and the extra 5 STR is a buffer against things that reduce your STR, since they have to go through 5 extra points before they can reduce you below 80 STR.

You're mixing this up with scaled STR.

A very high stat investment makes the scaled stat harder to influence, both positively and negatively. This, on the other hand, basically throws your stat points into the void and gives you the middle finger.