To address OP's original items, and not just one:

I personally resigned myself to the fact that RDM would not resemble the RDM I enjoyed playing in 11.

1) I don't find it odd that they don't have a dedicated mitigation ability since they appear to have advanced mobility over the other casters.
2) See previous comments
3) En-weapon spells would have been neat, but it's clear they intended to do things differently this time around.
4) The Melee abilities, though they use TP, appear to do unaspected damage, which likely means they will be affected by Embolden. I could be wrong though.
5) We'll have to wait and see how Vercure works. But I'm with you - Here's hoping it scales off int so it can be more than just a wasted ability. The trick is to make the ability to enough healing to be useful, but not too much as to replace a healer in a group. It's a fine line to walk.