What if wands could be off-handed, like a shield? I haven't heard anybody suggest that yet, and it'd enable a certain amount of hybridization (hold a wand with a sword, or a cylinder) while not necessarily needing to address the evaporation issue. You're also giving up the defense of a shield in order to do it.
I mean, I still think evaporation would be best removed, but this would be more fun in some ways than just that and create some interesting levels of choice if it still existed.
Thats actually a pretty good idea. Maybe a foci class of weapon for spellswords. Melee mains lose a lot from giving up dual wielding, so this would also benefit elves the most. Wouldn't even need to give it new animations. They could just make your hand glow or be something small attached to your hand/arm.