People have the mindset that adding any form of cast to Physical Ranged will turn them back into the bowmages and gunmages of Heavensward. Yet even modern day Magical Ranged jobs don't have 'casts' on every action, and you often can choose where you want those casts to occur, such that they occur when movement isn't actually required anyways.

I think that players harbor some illusions about 'mobility'. Bosses spend long periods of time casting tells on their next mechanic sequence. Being able to run around randomly while the boss is hardcasting a new mechanic is irrelevant. It's great that you can get up, stretch your legs, and walk around when nothing is happening. But what really matters is bursts of movement. Smudge is real mobility. You press a button, you dash forward and gain sprint, and you can do this three times per minute.

I don't think having a single hardcast or two would create as much of an issue as people think it does, and every other role has them anyways. Oh no, you have to stand in one place to draw up a jetpack schematic, line up a sniper shot, or perform an aetheric drum solo on the boss' skull when the boss' castbar is charging up with the words 'Mechanic 3'. What matters is if you can dynamically work around where they occur. I think the 'walking cast' concept is really just a way of getting the players on board so that they realize that it was never a big deal to begin with.

I would just recommend adding in a couple of casts and/or walking casts, whatever you're comfortable with. Add in a couple of burst mobility tools similar to Smudge to compensate for the 'reduction in mobility'. And then equalize the dps. Stop treating Physical Ranged like a second-class subcategory of Ranged.