No and no. Look at the info for both and you will see what they give and you will also see that you would be crazy to skip either of them.
ie. They both add their suite of abilities to all your pets without taking anything else away.
Many thanks! 
That's what I wanted to know: if I needed to respec out of Equip Thugs or leave it and run both. Thanks for your help!
I'm out of signature space! Arcs by Tubbius of Justice are HERE: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=218177
I've just recently hit a high enough level to take Upgrade Equipment on my Thugs/Traps MM. My question is this. . . .
Does Upgrade Equipment overwrite Equip Thugs, or if you use both on one side of goons, do they get ALL of the listed powers for both Upgrade Equipment and Equip Thugs?
Likewise, the other way around. Does Equip Thugs overwrite Upgrade Equipment if applied afterward?
That is all.
Thank you.
I'm out of signature space! Arcs by Tubbius of Justice are HERE: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=218177