So basically what we have to do is gear our gathering retainers to the teeth, if only so we can meld their gear. Great.
But other than it implying higher gathering rates, the ilvls themselves don't matter, right? That's the DoW/DoM retainers' thing.

Wish I had more to offer, but my DoM retainer is a BLM, which is my main battle class. Needless to say, she's about as geared as I am.