Quote Originally Posted by Rilifane View Post
You keep saying that a BLM (or any caster/ phys. ranged for that matter) should stay at range when there is absolutely nothing to gain from it.
As long as you don't stand in aoes you can stand whereever you want and standing closer to the boss/ mobs is in most cases preferable because many aoes are cone-shaped and easier to dodge if you stand closer plus there's usually a "sweet spot" for most mechanics at max melee range where you can safely place your Leylines and dodge both melee and ranged mechanics while staying within them.

The point of casters and physical ranged being able to attack from range isn't that they should stay at range but instead that they can, if a mechanic calls for it.
Can. If, and only if, a mechanic calls for it. Everything past that is unneccessary and generally leads to more problems than staying closer.
This would be right if it was in a raid setting. But in dungeons during trash mob pulls (which is the most relevant to this discussion), most aoes will not reach you if you are farther away. The ones that do reach are rare and are an exception. Your odds of needing to dodge an aoe are MUCH higher if you stand in the max melee distance as you suggested.