So now what?

[Protey]

yes, rdm has some sweet damage mitigation spells, but reapplying them means taking time from our normal buff/debuff cycles, and frankly working those cycles keeps us from putting out melee damage a significant part of the time.

what are you even talking about. there are 4 damage mitigation spells for rdm... protect, shell, phalanx, and stoneskin. Protect/Shell you apply once every what, 40 minutes or so? phalanx you apply same time as you do refresh 2, which is once about every 12 minutes. stoneskin takes all of 2 seconds to apply. being in off party you only have one buff you are doing... either haste 2, or flurry 2. Maybe, if you are bringing an extra mage in your party a refresh2. How do those 4 mitigation spells even remotely come close to taking time from buff/debuff cycles? I don't know about your buff/debuff cycles, but we have this ability called composure, and this gear called empyrean that makes our buffs last longer on others. We also have this trait and gear called fast cast. Most fights will end before your buffs on others even wear off. So other than a couple debuffs, you should be able to melee the entire time.

now, given the lack of durability and the increased chance of interruption from being in melee range-not to mention all the boss mobs with AoE debuff moves like silence, para, terror, etc. it generally isn't worth it for mages to get in the melee groups, even if we can put up good numbers by picking our WS properly for the mob; it also makes us more of an MP sponge than the standard melee DDs. Sure we can try to self-heal, but again that breaks us from our buff/debuff cycle.

lack of durability? are you kidding? rdm is one of the most durable jobs there is. increased chance of interruption? aquaveil is your friend. if you are fighting a mob that does knockback, put your back to the wall. debuffs on you? remedies/panacea. MP sponge? what are you talking about, RDM cures itself. RDM is more durable than standard melee DDs too, so don't know where you are getting that nonsense. How does healing ourselves break buff/debuff? cures takes all of 1 second to cast, or as my favorite, cure myself with sanguine blade.