Most tend to be outlander which lets them strengthen gear. And generally they gear very similar to mages so a lot of what they want (hp/saves/mana) can be found the same way. Even almost all of the progging gear they would be interested in is not metal(stone form, amulet of dragonkind, lash belt). You miss out on strange bracers but haste isn’t that terribly great for them and we are speaking of limit 1 items most chars will never touch.

Grabbing a weapon in the early ranks may be annoying but it’s really just there to parry so use whatever.