Quote Originally Posted by Carth View Post
You couldn't be even farther from the truth.
It's all anecdotal, but I, and most the people I know, don't care about their RDM's melee capabilities. If we want to DD, we instead play our real DD jobs. When I play RDM, I'm either the main healer or playing as a supplemental mage to flesh out the backline. And my BLM's enfeebles, despite all the gear I carry for it, don't even approach the potency of my RDM's enfeebles (or curing and buffing capacity, for that matter).

I don't have the time or inclination to swap out half my active inventory (75/80 on RDM) in order to melee. When free time presents itself, I'd much rather nuke. The mage responsibilities I look to fill in party play would never allow me the time to melee to 100%TP, much less weaponskill. Besides, a not-insignificant amount of my BLM's nuking gear is equippable by RDM. I don't need a sword or dagger to pump out a decent amount of damage when the opportunities present themselves.

Of course, this is just my outlook on RDM. I aim to play it like a mage.