Instead of buffing Ranged DPS potency, give better justification for lower output.

As more and more information pours in from 5.1, it's starting to look like the buff to ranged DPS in 5.1 was really not enough to close the gap between them and the upper echelon of jobs. When mediocre Summoners, Samurais, Monks and Dragoons are beating out near perfectly played Bards and Dancers, and Machinists are dealing the exact same level of damage as Red Mage's that have far superior utility to them, this is a problem. While mobility and perfect uptime is certainly an advantage, it should not be leading to gaps where job choices surpass player skill. During the lead up to Shadowbringers it was said in the fan fest during the job breakdown that Player skill will always trump job choice, but so far this expansion, that has not been the case for ranged players.

Currently right now the 1% role bonus is the only reason having a ranged physical DPS is justified on the team. This however isn't something that makes ranged players feel good about their spot. As has been often used by the community, it feels more like the kids (raid) on the playground are being forced to play with the one outcast kid (ranged DPS) by their parents (SE). This is a band aid, and a tenuous one at best, as with the way damage can scale late expansion in this game, the gap could very well widen as gear upgrades drop in the later raid tiers.

So the question is, what can we do about this? While I do not disagree with the notion that ranged DPS should be lower on average then most players, as their is inherent advantages with being so much more mobile and doing mechanics while not losing uptime, many of the disadvantages faced by casters and melee's as expansions have gone on are starting to lesson with new abilities and QoL improvements. That all being said though, no Dragoon or Monk are going to suddenly feel good if a Machinist is suddenly blowing them out of the water in damage while running all over the arena, even if they bring far more to the raid then that Machinist does. No Summoner or Red Mage will be happy with knowing they have to play their job nearly perfect or they will get out damaged by a Bard or Dancer who gets to constantly improvise on messups and face no penalty at all.

cont:

The answer is, it's time to bring the real utility back to the ranged DPS role, and I don't just mean raid damage buffs. Give back things like Refresh and Palisade that only a ranged physical would be able to bring. Give different kinds of varied utility abilities to the three jobs that will work on their playstyle and identity. If you want MCH to have this very greedy damage playstyle but not let it do the same level of damage as other greedy jobs like Black Mage and Samurai, then amp up it's defensive utilities. Give back Dismantle, and maybe add an extra healing buff. Cut the timing of things like Dancer's curing waltz and Bard's Nature's Minne so they are used far more often and feel much more impactful. Give back Foe's Requiem to Bard and either rework Warden's Paen into something that get's consistent use, either offensive or defensive, OR start making encounters that actually get use out of it's debuff cleanse.

Overall my point is what was in the title. Ranged DPS should have lower output then the other jobs, Heavensward's dual ranged comp and Bard's dominance in Stormblood is proof that the role's damage being too high is a problem. But a 1% role bonus is not the way to make sure the kids play nice on the playground, it's just a passive background number that give's no visible impact at all, if it was removed 95% of the players wouldn't even notice. Instead, give tangible benefits to the role that other jobs do not bring. That or start redesigning fights with mechanics that only a ranged Physical can do.

You know what I miss?

Dismantle.

If I had Dismantle, I would be okay with MCH's current dps output.
But as you said, ranged DPS are balanced as if they had much more utility.
Refresh was almost mandatory but now healers and mages don't need it anymore.
Palisade was niche but neat, I wish we still had a single target mitigation even if I have to macro/target the tank.

I just wish we could at least have the tools necessary to excuse our poor rDPS, SQEX needs to acknoledge that we're not in HW or SB anymore, there is no piercing debuff, there is no refresh anymore

while i'm not completly opposed to the idea the whm/ast situation back when whm simply lacked the damage while astro was a weaker (but still strong enough) healer allready showed that no amount of extra defense (with things like palisade and dismantle) will overcome damage, you cant make it so whatever defensive support (or mana managment help) they could offer was absolutely mandatory or people would complain about fights being impossible without say dismantle, on the other hand if you make it so they fall in the range of usefull but technically not necessary people will just find ways to manage without it, they did when astro was the "barely strong enoug heal" , and they factually do right now to a lesser extent because for all the "melee uptime strats are hard on the group" no one, literally no one takes 4 ranges and go's "oh yea, now that we don't have to care which dps stands in front our raid runs sooooo much better" , dps is king, and allways will be. also more dps means a shorter fight, a shorter fight means less chances to mess up, even mechanics you don't need to handle if the dps is good enough.

theres also the point about ranged being "easier" and i really wonder how people define that, like yes free movement and all, but what i mean by that is this, ranged dps are easier to do WHAT exactly ? deal damage ? because you will have a harder time dealing any certain dps treshold on a physical ranged compared to the other classes, you will have an easier time doing 10k-11k-15k on literally any class than a physical ranged. yes, doing your rotation correctly without getting oneshot for staying to close to the boss is easier, but what is the payoff ? if even on the most movement heavy fight the physical ranged still completly fall short of everyone else than WHAT is the use of free movement ? heck, what even do people think "free" movement means ? because as it stands smn is nearly as mobile as the physical ranged, back in stormblood i mained redmage and let me tell you even back than it did not feel restricted, i played mch for a time in heavensward, so with gauß barrel, you know my reaction to removing gauß barrel ? "oh yea, great... whatever..." blackmage i cant say, but in general people VASTLY overestimate restrictions they got on their class, yes it is nice not having to think about my position relative to the boss or whatever, but its functionally useless if even after this the dps just falls short.