I was going to fill for a friend's static this raid tier because I notice there was a shortage and was going to take a break from healing.

And while there's issues with the gameplay of each phys. ranged dps, that's not really the part that dissuaded me from it. I actually enjoyed the role during ShB but even then they had the same overarching issue: what is their purpose?

In SB, there was only MCH and BRD and before HW, there was only BRD. In SB, BRD was really strong as it was the only ranged to have party buffs and the job was rather engaging. MCH was scuffed but it wasn't horrible, it was complex and had its own niche, but like it wasn't horrible–just meh.

After the introduction of ShB and DNC, BRD lost its identity of being the party buffer as that was now DNC's strongest suit. And selfish dps was MCH. No one wanted the mid-tier DPS. This brings us to the main problem, aside from party buffs, how do you balance them around being party buffers? DNC and BRD are constantly fighting for who's better and the meta generally picks whichever has the better dps and buffs which rn is still BRD with DNC not too far behind.

Mobility tax hasn't been relevant for awhile as a lot of content doesn't require a dedicated bait dps for mechanics as most of these mechanics require all ranged to do it or it's random. Melee and caster not having uptime is false. BLM literally has two charges of Triplecast, SMN's kit is nearly insta-cast and RDM's combo has three insta-cast GCDs. Most of the melees had 90% their positionals removed and boss hit boxes have gotten so big that the ring is literally in your face.

What hurt Phys. Ranged the most was losing their support skills. Refresh was used for healers and casters for MP assistance. OG Tactician and Refresh was used to mama ge the whole team's aggro. Palisade helped tanks with autos.

What I'm saying is because of the removal of MP assistance and aggro management, phys. ranged has been reduced to crippled DPS fighting for whoever does the most damage/gives the most. Without meaningful support mechanics, a lot of support jobs lost their identity and are cannibalizing each other in balance patches.

I went back to healer because at least I'm keeping the team alive and mitigating DPS, because playing phys. ranged doesn't feel impactful.