Originally Posted by
Economizer
Yeah, the only way this should be on a weapon is if it is a Sword with Darkness Affinity (for Sanguine Blade, which Red Mage doesn't even get natively), Dagger with Wind Affinity (for Aeolian Edge), or Daggers that do zero damage with affinity to boost enspells (which is a very different playstyle that few people are even aware of).
Personally, I'm in favor of 1-2 shields that have a sizable but roughly half of the affinity of a staff, or enspells that a sizable but roughly half of the affinity of a staff (actually, both would be ideal, since then you could be equal to a staff user as another option).
Why shields? Honestly I think it is insulting how weak non-Paladin shields are... You are giving up dual wield so they should be as powerful as that, there is no balance in having weak shields. Becoming more powerful with magic but still being able to melee with a weapon that was actually designed for combat would be a good, balanced trade off, if not in the numbers, at least as a gesture.