What's the cheapest way for an Eldritch Knight to be able to wield two weapons while still being able to cast spells with somatic/material components?

Question

For the purpose of this question, assume "two weapons" to include "a one-handed weapon and a shield".

Compared to other spellcasters, Eldritch Knights are sort of at a disadvantage when it comes to achieving dual-wielding and the like, as they generally cannot use spellcasting foci (except when using magic items such as a Ruby of the War Mage). Thus, they normally seem to require a free hand for casting spells with components other than verbal ones. For comparison, a wizard could wield a Staff of Power, which - due to being a staff - counts as an arcane focus and thus solves the issue of noncostly material components, but it can also be used as a +2 quarterstaff.

For an EK trying to trivialize somatic components, Warcaster is the obvious choice (no difference to other spellcasters in this regard), and the requirement of a free hand for material components (without a GP cost) can be avoided with a Ruby of the War Mage. However, the former requires spending a feat (even though Warcaster is a pretty good feat for EKs anyway, especially considering that fighters get more ASIs than the average class), and the latter blocks an attunement slot and doesn't work for costly material components. Plus, if you happen to die in a battle, your attunements end, even if you get Revivified right away (although that's probably a very rare or even legendary problem ^^).

Is there a cheaper way to get around the issue? For the purpose of defining "expensive", please consider this order (the higher up on the list, the more expensive):

1. Multiclassing (and requiring three multiclass levels is obviously worse than requiring one)
2. Requiring additional actions
3. Feats
4. Attunement Slots
5. Requiring additional bonus actions
6. Choosing specific (sub-)class options, such as a Fighting Style.
7. Magic Items without attunement
8. Ingame time (e.g. downtime training)
9. Requiring your object interaction
10. Money

I'm aware of other questions on almost the same topic, namely this one (warlock-focused or at best generic), this one (technically answers the issue, but some GMs might consider dropping and picking your weapon up cheesy, plus there are downsides and it only works with Sage Advice rulings), as well as this one (answers claim it's not an issue, which is not true IMHO - for example, Chromatic Orb, Aganazzar's Scorcher or Fireball all have material components).

Answer 1

You only need a free object interaction and a bonus action.

Eldritch Knights have the comfortable benefit of the Weapon Bond feature, which states (among other things):

If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.

This opens up a modified variant of the solution discussed here, while both a) feeling less cheesy and b) avoiding the downsides of the approach - albeit at the cost of a bonus action and only being available to Eldritch Knights.

Namely, the linked question lists the following downsides:

• dropped objects can be picked up with a readied action
• dropped item can be targeted with spells because it's not worn or carried
• can't easily pick up a dropped weapon if you're flying or above lava

As an EK, you can thus choose the following course of action:

1. Stow your weapon, which uses your free object interaction
2. Cast the desired spell; according to PHB p. 203 ("A spellcaster must have a hand free to access these components, but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components"), you can use your now-free hand for both the material and somatic components
3. Summon your sheathed weapon using the bonus action granted by the Weapon Bond feature

Since you're sheathing your weapon, it's not dropped (and thus can't be picked up with a readied action), it's still carried on your body and thus can't be targeted directly by spells, and it won't fall to the ground or into hazardous terrain if you're flying.

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Unfortunately, this approach won't work with some of an Eldritch Knight's class features, such as War Magic and Improved War Magic - both of which require your bonus action. IMHO, this is a pretty major flaw in the subclasses' design, and as a DM, I'd probably allow my players to sheath and draw their weapon with the action economy of dropping and sheathing it.

Regardless, the solution above is RAW-foolproof and doesn't require Sage Advice, which is necessary for the dropping-and-picking-up-trick, as - to my knowledge - the normal rules don't describe dropping a weapon as being 100% free.