The boring mage of red

[RyouAkizuki]

After playing Red Mage the whole MSQ, I feel their melee attacks aren't that strong. Until you get ver flare/holy at the very end, it feels like you do more dps chaining spells than wasting time jumping in and out for melee attacks.

Across 3 GCD's a Red Mage spellcasting will do, by some rough calculations, 750 Potency on average before Jolt II is unlocked, and 800 Potency on average after Jolt II.

By comparison the Red Mage's Enhanced Melee combo will do guaranteed 970 Potency over those same GCDs.

It should be noted that getting the most optimal spell combo (Procced Spell, VerThunder/VerAero, Procced Spell) is 840 Potency for 3 GCDs.

So yes, it always is worth it.