Suggestions

[Zealousmelon]

give melee weapons that have weight additional vitality to compensate

they are really suffering

think about it

I don't think a vitality buff would make sense, imo... but! Perhaps instead of Vit, any weapon or piece of armor with weight could have a slight knockback resistance. Something cool and unique, something we haven't seen yet. Considering you're weighed down, it'd be harder to send you flying by lets say *cough cough* Minefield.