The thing is, no matter what you will waste your time and melds and gil in the long term. It's only worth doing to make money in the now. It'll never last for good. I do think it's a very safe bet that the newest i55 gear isn't going to be replaced anytime soon. As such, the offhand probably won't be replaced, but some more of the body gear MIGHT be. I hate to think about the main tool slot after the massive hassles and prices of doing them.

But this is XIV life right now and maybe forever. You'll never be done melding because then FFXIV would lose the ONLY thing it has going for an economy. So you should meld just enough to get by, and never waste gil capping unless it's CP, I suppose. Any craft/control over what is required to 100% HQ is pure waste until the day it is needed, and when it is, there will probably be better gear for it anyway.