I'd like more sword play from RDM in the future, melee and ranged

[Cetek14]

RDM is first and foremost ranged caster. Current design is completely fine. What we need is separate "spellsword/spellblade" job.
I don't want to say your idea is bad and you should feel bad, but if we go too far with melee abilities, we basically turn this job into melee, which is not the point.

[Duskane]

RDM is first and foremost ranged caster. Current design is completely fine.

lets not get ahead of ourselves now

[Klaleara]

RDM is first and foremost ranged caster. Current design is completely fine. What we need is separate "spellsword/spellblade" job.
I don't want to say your idea is bad and you should feel bad, but if we go too far with melee abilities, we basically turn this job into melee, which is not the point.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say we should always be in melee. I would just like it to happen more often. Either make it so we can jump in more often, or make it so we have more to do while in melee.

Side note: I'd really appreciate it if our engage had a temporary second charge after we use it. Nothing like jumping to an opponent, and they teleport away to another location. Or die mid combo. Be nice if we could do a second engage within a time period, to quickly switch targets, and keep our combo smooth feeling.

[Duelle]

RDM is first and foremost ranged caster. Current design is completely fine. What we need is separate "spellsword/spellblade" job.

The two are not mutually exclusive. RDM could be given more melee options and sword use in regular gameplay while still making it possible to add a spellblade/mystic knight job. Right now the job is basically a caster with a decorative sword, which is a far cry from where the original hybrid of the FF series should be.

The big problem with Red Mage having a greater amount of Melee time beyond the obvious "Red Mage is a caster DPS not a melee", or the amount of time that would take for an overhaul is that any additional time spent in Melee range will force it to compete with actual Melee jobs for uptime. Right now the Melee combo is so quick that it's unobtrusive for the flavor it adds, but more than what Red Mage currently does and there's likely to be problems.

I won't disagree with the overhaul part, because as is the job was built on mechanics made for a caster (also why I say that removing the sword would hardly be felt from a mechanics perspective). Adding combos or extra buttons won't do much unless you have them stand in for Jolt => Verspell spam in some capacity.

That said, a suggestion off the top of my head would be an oGCD skill that would share a cooldown with Fleche but be melee range. It would interact with Verfire/Verstone Ready, generate mana while consuming the effect and dealing more damage. This way you have this melee oGCD skill when in melee range, but still have Fleche in case you're not near the target for whatever reason. Melee additions would have to be along those lines if you want to keep the rest of the design intact.

[MirronTulaxia]

The two are not mutually exclusive. RDM could be given more melee options and sword use in regular gameplay while still making it possible to add a spellblade/mystic knight job. Right now the job is basically a caster with a decorative sword, which is a far cry from where the original hybrid of the FF series should be.

I won't disagree with the overhaul part, because as is the job was built on mechanics made for a caster (also why I say that removing the sword would hardly be felt from a mechanics perspective). Adding combos or extra buttons won't do much unless you have them stand in for Jolt => Verspell spam in some capacity.

That said, a suggestion off the top of my head would be an oGCD skill that would share a cooldown with Fleche but be melee range. It would interact with Verfire/Verstone Ready, generate mana while consuming the effect and dealing more damage. This way you have this melee oGCD skill when in melee range, but still have Fleche in case you're not near the target for whatever reason. Melee additions would have to be along those lines if you want to keep the rest of the design intact.

Red Mages in FF proper are a three way hybrid. That... isn't going to happen. It's not going to use Black Magic, White Magic, and Melee in equal amounts. What you got was a job that was basically leaning towards Black Mage with some aesthetics of the latter two. And honestly that's the only way it can be in this kind of system. The ratio can't, and really shouldn't, be a 1:1:1 thing. And honestly in FF Red Mages are really poorly balanced too so it's for the best that they didn't try to push that. Though I suppose they could have traded places with Blue Mage and then do all roles.

[Duelle]

Red Mages in FF proper are a three way hybrid. That... isn't going to happen. It's not going to use Black Magic, White Magic, and Melee in equal amounts. What you got was a job that was basically leaning towards Black Mage with some aesthetics of the latter two. And honestly that's the only way it can be in this kind of system. The ratio can't, and really shouldn't, be a 1:1:1 thing. And honestly in FF Red Mages are really poorly balanced too so it's for the best that they didn't try to push that. Though I suppose they could have traded places with Blue Mage and then do all roles.

I never said anything about doing multiple roles. The logical thing to do with a hybrid like RDM is let them stand in the front lines, using their sword and spells in tandem. Instead we got BLM -1 that jumps around like an idiot (which from my limited experience is disregarded since most groups just have everyone stack behind the mob). Expecting the sword to be more than just a decoration isn't outlandish by any stretch of the imagination.

What irks me from a design perspective is that the devs felt that Dualcast (a gimmick added in Final Fantasy V) was more important than RDM's sword & spell hybrid origins, to the point they used a system that better fits the Sage job as the foundation for their design. Seriously, if you remove the sword skills and change the job's name to Sage, everything else fits in almost perfectly. Including the spell selection and mana bars. A sage that lives in seclusion and managed to avoid the Garleans during Ala Mhigo's occupation even fits better within Stormblood's theme than a bunch of randoms that learned stuff from upside down pyramids.