Well, I can kinda see how it would work but I dont see it happening due to SE's fondness to rigidness and the playerbase's affinity to "we're gonna min max anyway so who cares about flavor?"

You can have dual weapons be a system where changing to a different yet similar type of weapon alter a class's skills. Stuff like gladiators with great swords not being able to use shield skills with it on but having sword skills greatly enhanced. Marauders with a dual axe would turn their conal overpower into a spinning aoe, action hits turning into weaker double hits but bloodbath effect is greater. Separating archer bows back into long and short bows with one staying as is while the other being stronger at aoes but weaker in single target or being able to load different numbers or arrows with barrage. Monks having to choose either gauntlets or greaves where wearing greaves would greatly enhance and modify attacks with kick animations (only 2?) while weakening punch attacks (inb4 why not both).

It's just a thought though. It's definitely harder to balance if at all possible, even if it's restricted to class only and SE already took the easy way out by saying no to skill modifying armor effects so this is even more unlikely.