Recommended replacement keyboard switches?

[Lysrin]

It wouldn't resolve the special function keys, but I'm thinking that a stand-alone num pad goes a long way towards allowing a smaller format keyboard.

For sure. And that's why I like the Everest Max, looking at it more. Plus the ability to attach their numpad to the left side of the keyboard is a neat option too. More expensive than just buying a standalone numpad for a TKL... but it looks pretty and it all matches

 

[Izerous]

I feel your pain. Not only are shine through keycap sets few and far between, the switch from north facing to south facing LEDs (for cherry keycap compatibility?) means that even if you find a shine through set, there's a good chance the lighting won't be very effective.

I finally just gave up in spite of having a keyboard location which really can make use of shine through.

This is one of the reasons I really like the switches the RX scope uses. First they have less slop in them due to the design change compared to cherry compatible designs. Second the LED is dead center of the switch meaning the light up really nicely.

The crappy part is because they are not cherry compatible the options in keycaps are the ones it comes with and a single set sold by ASUS.