Red Mage could use some help.

[Tzain]

Sort of makes me think of what I originally thought RDM would be doing: using the melee combo as a generator and the spells as spenders. I think a big cause of RDM's current depth is the fact we have one spender, and everything else is a generator.

Man, I thought I was the only one who wondered about that!
I mean, if you look at the ability progression and the lore it reinforces the idea of going 'melee -> Caster -> melee' rather than 'caster -> melee -> Caster'.
I still think that SE's way of 'balancing' red mage dps is going to be related to the frequency with which we do our melee combo ('Burst type damage playstyle'). Increased Frequency = more damage, decreased frequency = less damage. Right now, given that the job is so young, It's my honest belief that they are opting to keep it on the 'low side' so that any 'balancing' will be embraced as a buff.

That being said, having us as melee->caster would put another body in melee range, which is a bit crowded. So I'm ok with our default being a spell slinger from a mechanics/balance perspective. It just feels unbalanced because you spend too much time in 'slinger' mode compared to the 'sword' phase.
In my overly simplistic view, Corps-a-Corps is the limiting factor at 40 seconds. In theory we should be able to generate enough W/B to do the full melee combo (Corps, melee combo, displacement,ver-finisher) each time corps comes off cooldown.
Also, I'd like to see Embolden's mechanic get inverted, so that it becomes more powerful during it's duration instead of less powerful since the burst damage combo is so 'back-loaded'.