Here's something that has kind of irked me over the course of the whole RDM melee debate, and that mostly stems from the requirement to utilize staves for any drastic situation. While having them in times were backlining isn't really an issue, it does create a plethora of problems for any one trying to melee. Even though we definitely don't need the affinity boosts from the staves for melee fodder, we still lose out on our biggest cure potency booster piece. In either case our dependency on the elemental/ToM staves put us in a bind, so I thought of two ways we might get around this.

1. A new Job Ability/Trait that eliminates the loss of TP gained when swapping weapons/sub-weapons.

This could open up a new door for the melee side, not just because it allows you to freely swap out weapons so you can optimally utilize staves when necessary, but it also allows the melee side to swap out TP gaining weapons and then throw on your most powerful sword/dagger to WS with. I don't know how well it could be implemented but it definitely adds flexibility.

2. Create gear that can come close too or match the potency of the staves that utilizes non weapon slots.

I know what your thinking, wouldn't that just force RDM further backline and create more balance issues, well yes and no. I was thinking of restrictive gear much like how hooded robes prevent you from equipping headgear, only this time the gear prevents you from equipping certain weapons (In this case Staves). Another alternative to this was the boosts could come from a latent effect such as having a Sword or Dagger equipped, or when staves are not equipped.

These are just some random ideas though, nothing set in stone and I really don't expect them to be an endgame changer especially with our heavy casting load, but it does increase our options a bit.