RDM as a DPS

[Madrone]

Red Mage Spellblade concept

I relinquish any claim to intellectual property rights for this work. Square Enix may freely use this job design in whole or in part.

I'm pretty happy with this build. This is now my 4th revision and it goes up to lvl 70. My potency numbers are just estimates. I'm not naive enough to think that I've achieved good balance with these skill effects and potencies. And I'm also willing to admit this build is probably a bit over-powered and doesn't have enough "junk" skills.



Role: DPS with utility. It is both melee and caster. Its damage should be on the low end of the dps spectrum.

Main stat: INT

Damage type: If SpellBlade is up, all damage is magical. Melee skills still use physical weapon damage rating. If SpellBlade is not up, auto-attacks, Quick Thrust, and Pressure are piercing.

Limit Break: Melee. Level 3 Vorpal Blade, Chante Du Cigne... call it what you like.

Cross class: RDM may set additional skills from CNJ and THM; Surecast, Swiftcast, Blizzard II, Sleep, Cure, Protect, Raise, and Stoneskin.

Weapon damage: Like a BRD/MCN's weapon, RDM's has a 10% lower physical weapon damage than any melee job's weapon. It also has a 10% lower magical weapon damage rating than any mage job's weapon. This is meant to lower its dps as a counter-balance to its high utility.

Gear: General DoM while leveling. Starting with AF, RDM would have its own left side gear sets that have medium physical defense and high magic defense (reverse of DRG gear). Left side gear would provide skill speed. It would use Casting accessories. It has a defensive off-hand, either a small shield or parrying dagger that has DoM stats.

Playstyle: RDM primarily uses two element-based combos that are melee > melee > spell. It can jump in and out of melee range with cooldowns. It has a casting stance that's used for entering Umbral Ice and boosts spell damage while penalizing melee. It will cycle between these two combos and casting stance in order to maximize the damage of its two DoT spells, gain bonuses/effect from combos, execute spellblade skills, recover resources, and proc bonus spellblade stacks. There are incentives and tactical reasons to spend time in each spellblade element, and it is best to complete a full element cycle in ~30s to renew DoTs in the ideal stance. RDM has many support skills to aid its party members and make it an attractive addition to any party.


Some abilities are noted as either magic or melee. This is to determine if they use the Physical or Magical Weapon Damage rating. This also has some effect on applicable damage bonuses. Melee abilities receive SpellBlade's damage bonus and also benefit from magic damage resistance debuffs. Magic abilities may receive Astral Fire or Cold-Blooded damage bonuses and also benefit from magic damage resistance debuffs. All abilities receive Temper and Aura damage bonuses.

This RDM concept is mashed up with Mystic Knight stylistically, but it borrows heavily from THM/CNJ spells as any RDM build should. I made it use the BLM Astral/Umbral mechanics with while having a melee combo attack pattern. Many of its skills are recycled from other jobs with slight modifications, with the hope it will feel like a generalist and not step far outside the box of SE's job designs. It can heal better than any non-healer, but this is part of its utility not its role, so its healing kit is limited to CNJ cross class spells, and the strength of Cure is inhibited slightly. RDM is a blend of melee and caster dps, and like most ranged jobs has to deal with some cast times. It is far less stationary than a BLM however.

Skill List:

Skill List:

1 Quick Thrust
140 potency, 60 TP, Weaponskill

2 Blizzard
Deals Ice damage 180 potency, cast time 2.5s, single target ranged Spell. 25y
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or Removes Astral Fire. Duration 10s.
Additional Effect: Inflicts Heavy. 20s (12s pvp)

4 Pressure
130 potency, 70 TP, Weaponskill. Front potency 140.
Additional Effect: 40% chance to Inflict damage dealt penalty 10% for 10s. 70% chance from front. (Same debuff as Eye for an Eye)

6 En Garde
Instant. Ability.
Parry +30%. Evasion +10%. Duration 20s.
A successful Block or Parry will block 50% of the damage instead of 20%. (trait)
Recast 80 seconds.

8 Fire
Deals Fire damage 180 potency, Cast time 2.5s, single target ranged Spell. 25y
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire or removes Umbral Ice. Duration 10s. Removes Cold-Blooded.
Combo Action: Burning Blade
Combo bonus: Potency 240

10 Riposte
Off GCD Ability (melee). 150 Potency. Can only be used after Parrying an attack. Duration 12s
Additional Effect: Inflicts pacify 5s.

12 Thunder
Deals Thunder damage potency 30, cast time 2s, single target ranged Spell
DoT potency 40, duration 18s.
5% chance for bonus SpellBlade stack on DoT ticks (lvl 28 Overload trait)
Combo Action: Thunder Slash
Combo Bonus: Instant cast. Initial potency 160. Duration 24s.

15 SpellBlade
Instant. Ability. Recast 90s. Duration Infinite.
Increases melee damage by 10/15/20% and grants 1-3 SpellBlade stacks, depends on traits at lvl 20 & 40.
When used initially SpellBlade’s element is Thunder. When re-applied, SpellBlade doesn’t change the current element, only recharges the stacks.
Max stacks that can be held are +2 more than the number SpellBlade grants, but exceeding the number SpellBlade gives is only possible via Overload (trait) or Energize ability (outside of combat).
Additional Effect: Burning Blade and Thunder Slash have a small mp cost if they change SpellBlade’s element.

18 Discharge
Shoots 2-4 orbs of SpellBlade element’s energy at a target, tied to SpellBlade traits. 2 orbs at level 18-19, 3 at level 20-39, 4 at level 40+.
Must be under the effect of SpellBlade to use. Consumes one SpellBlade stack.
Ability (magic). Instant/oGCD. Recast 20s. 25y
Potency of main orb 100. Additional orb potency 40. Astral Fire and Cold-Blooded damage bonuses may apply.
Additional Effect: When SpellBlade element is Thunder, Discharge does not consume a SpellBlade stack.

22 Fleche
Instant/oGCD. Ability (melee). Recast 30s
Rushes to target and delivers an attack at 100 potency. Range 20y.
Additional Effect: Causes stun 3s. (2s pvp)

26 Fire II
Deals Fire damage with a potency of 100 to target and enemies near it.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire or removes Umbral Ice. Duration 10s. Removes Cold-Blooded.
Combo Action: Burning Blade
Combo Bonus: Potency 140

30 Thunder Slash
Potency 100, 140 TP. Weaponskill.
(consumes some mp if changing spellblade element)
Additional Effect: Changes SpellBlade element to Thunder and cancels Cold-Blooded.
Combo action: Pressure
Combo bonus: Potency 160

30 Cold-blooded
Instant. Ability. Recast 15s. Duration Infinite.
Auto-attack is disabled. Cold-Blooded has no duration but requires maintaining both Umbral Ice and SpellBlade Ice. If you change SpellBlade element or lose Umbral ice, Cold-Blooded is cancelled. It can be also be cancelled by reuse.
Additional Effect: Removes Astral Fire and grants Umbral Ice. Duration 10s.
Additional Effect: Spell Damage +30%.
Additional Effect: Changes Spellblade element to Ice.

34 Frost
Cast time 2.5s. Single target Spell. 25y
Ice damage over time potency 25. Duration 30s.
Additional Effect: Inflicts Slow 20% for 20s. (12s pvp)
Additional Effect: Grants Umbral Ice or removes Astral Fire. Duration 10s

35 Burning Blade
Deals Fire damage potency 110, TP 140, circle AOE around target 5y. Weaponskill.
Has 1.5s cast time. (consumes some mp if changing spellblade element).
Additional Effect: Changes Spellblade element to Fire and cancels Cold-Blooded.
Additional Effect: Grants Astral Fire and removes Umbral Ice. Duration 10s.
Combo Action: Quick Thrust
Combo Bonus: Potency 140
Combo Bonus: Grants full stack of Astral Fire and removes Umbral Ice. Duration 10s

38 Sanguine Blade
Ability(melee)/Off-GCD. Recast 60s.
Potency 180
Additional effect: Cures RDM and allies within 5y for the amount drained.

40 Doublecast
Ability. Instant. Duration 10s. Recast 12s.
Must be under the effect of SpellBlade to use. Consumes one SpellBlade stack. Next spell will be cast twice on the same target at ½ normal cast time. Both casts have a normal mp cost. Effect will only activate if there’s enough mp for both spells, and will not activate during Chainspell. Combo bonus applies to first spell only. Astral Fire and Umbral Ice stack generation will register twice for Fire and Blizzard spells. Astral/Umbral bonus for the first spell applies to the second spell, even if casting generated additional stacks.

42 Thunder II
Potency 50, cast time 2.5s, single target ranged Spell
DoT potency 40, duration 21s.
5% chance to proc bonus SpellBlade stack on DoT ticks (lvl 28 trait)
Combo Action: Thunder Slash
Combo Bonus: Instant cast. Initial potency 180. Duration 30s

45 Enervation Field
Ability. Cast time 1.5s. Duration 15s. Recast 90s. Range 25y.
Must be under the effect of SpellBlade to use. Consumes one SpellBlade stack. Enemies within range take increased damage +5%.
Additional Effect: Does not consume a SpellBlade stack when SpellBlade element is Thunder.

46 Quartata
Instant. Ability.
Recast 30s.
Jump back 10y.
Additional effect: Reduces enmity by 1/2.

50 Energize
Ability. Instant. Recast 2.5s. Consumes 10% of max mp.
Grants a bonus SpellBlade stack. Cannot be used in combat.

50 Refresh
Ability. Single-target (party and self). Cast time 1.5s. 25y Recast 90s.
Restores mp for 30s. Instead of being potency-based like Shroud of Saints, Refresh recovers +4% of target's max mp/tick, 40% total. I felt this was needed because of how refreshing a Tank, BRD, or MCN's small mp pool would be over-powered otherwise.

52 Phalanx
Ability. Instant. Self.
Damage Shield 5% of max hp. Is not used up by damage taken.
Duration 30s. Recast 90s.

54 Voltaic Arc
Spell. Instant. Duration 30s. 5y range.
Spreads Thunder from target to nearby enemies. DoT duration is renewed/boosted. No effect if used on a target that isn't under the effects of the RDM's Thunder. No initial damage, so it won't wake sleeping targets or break bind.

56 Circle Blade
Ability (melee). Recast 60s.
Delivers and attack with potency 100 to all nearby enemies.
Additional effect: Damage over Time potency 25. Duration 15s.

58 In the Red
Lose 30% of hp. Cannot be used if hp is less than 50%. Spells have no mp cost for 15s.
Ability. Instant. Recast 3m.

60 Chainspell
Ability Instant Duration 10s or until all stacks used. Recast 3m
Receive 5 stacks of chainspell (acts like swiftcast) and Spell GCD and recast drops to ~1 second. Chainspell takes priority over Doublecast and Swiftcast, so if active at the same time, chainspell is used up first. Combo bonuses only apply once.

62 Deep Freeze
Spell. Cast time 3s. 25y.
Deals Ice damage 200 potency. AoE 5y around target.
Additional Effect: When cast immediately after Doublecast Blizzard I or II, inflicts Frozen (like Petrify) and Physical damage resistance -10%. Duration 10s (pvp 6s).

64 Fortify
Ability. Instant. Recast 2m
Raises all damage resistances of party members by 10% for 20s.

66 Detonation
Spell (big mp cost). Cast time 4s.
Deals Fire damage 180 potency. AoE 5y around target.
Additional effect: When cast immediately after Doublecast Fire I or II, free/instant.

68 Runic Blade
Instant. Ability. Duration 10s. Recast 90s.
Sword absorbs magic damage equal to 25% of max hp. 50% of the damage absorbed is converted into mp.

70 Aura
Ability. Instant. Self.
Damage/Healing +10%. Damage taken -10%.
Duration 20s. Recast 90s.




I don’t know if 61-70 will provide 5 skills. I’d prefer fewer because of button bloat, let’s say 3. I’d also prefer to expand Cross Class a bit and have some new skill-tree style trait choices from 51-70, but I stuck with the leveling formula that Heavensward gave us. If things could be different, I’d like 7 cross class skills, and optional skill-tree like traits to choose from between 51-70.


Traits

8 Enhanced Intelligence

14 Enhanced Intelligence II

16 Enhanced En Garde Blocks and Parries will block 50% damage instead of 20% during En Garde.

20 Sword and Sorcery SpellBlade damage bonus is 15%. Base action damage and Healing restoration +10%. Astral Fire can stack twice and SpellBlade gives 2 stacks. (Umbral Ice can only stack once)

24 Jack of all Trades Healing Magic Potency is determined by 80% of INT instead of MND.

28 Overload Thunder DoT ticks have a 5% chance of producing a bonus SpellBlade stack. SpellBlade stack max is increased to +2 more than the number given by Spellblade.

32 Enhanced Intelligence III

36 Flurry Spell Blade Ice gives the status Fast Cast. Cast Speed +15%.

40 Sword and Sorcery II SpellBlade damage bonus is 20%. Base action damage and Healing restoration +30%. Umbral Ice can stack twice. SpellBlade gives 3 stacks.

44 Meltdown SpellBlade Fire grants Temper status. Damage/Healing +10%.

48 Enhanced Raise Raise can be used in combat


Combo's/Procs:

Pressure > Thunder Slash > Thunder I or II
Good for single-target and being supporty; Thunder DoT is needed to get bonus spellblade stacks, and it has best damage & duration when used in the combo. Can use Discharge and Enervation Field for free while in SpellBlade Thunder, so do so as much as their cooldowns allow. Can AoE Thunder's DoT at lvl 54. Because the combo's total damage is drawn out over time by Thunder's DoT, it isn't good to be used over and over on the same target (clipping the DoT).

Quick Thrust > Burning Blade > Fire I or II
Go-to for single target and AoE. Burns up mp. Mid 60's get strong AoE, Detonation, that procs like a 4th move for Fire combo when Fire I or II are Doublecasted.

Cold-Blooded Stance:
Resource recovery and stronger/faster spells. Melee penalized with no auto-attacks & weaponskill cast times, and Cold-Blooded is cancelled by Fire Spells, Burning Blade, Thunder Slash, or the loss of Umbral Ice. Mid 60's, Doublecasted Blizzard I or II > Deep Freeze with proc'd additional CC/physical damage boost effects. Mainly you want to deliver Frost in Cold-Blooded every 30s and recover mp. Optionally, you can Thunder II in Cold-Blooded instead of using the Thunder combo. This can be quick & dirty for bonus spellblade stacks with Voltaic Arc when trash is short-lived. In such a case you'd want to focus on as much Fire AoE as possible rather than take time doing a Thunder combo. Cure's are also stronger when Cold-Blooded.

Ideally, every 30s: Cold-Blooded, Doublecast Blizzard, Deep Freeze, Frost, Fleche, Thunder combo w/ Enervation Field & Discharge, Fire combo w/ Circle Blade & Doublecast Fire, Quartata, Fire spells until mp low, repeat. Doublecasts, Discharges, Circle Blade, and Enervation Field subject to cooldowns and stack availability.

AoE rotation would focus on alternating Fire AoE combo and Ice AoE. With Energize use between pulls at lvl 50+ spreading Thunders becomes less vital, but its still a good habit & good damage.


Best burst includes (???? I wrote this stuff, and I'm guessing) Cold-Blooded, Doublecast Blizzard, Deep Freeze, Frost, Fleche, Thunder combo w/ Discharge & Enervation Field, Fire combo, Sanguine Blade, Circle Blade, Aura, Doublecast Fire, Detonation, Quartata, In the Red, Chainspell Fire x5.

[Dererk]

Ya can't support this any more.

What you had before the edit was good enough.

[Yaichiro]

This is how you make a job request thread.

Stop making long elaborated threads going skill after skill. Keep it simple like this guy.

Maybe you should wait until people finish editing their posts.

@ OP I am not sure about crippling RDM with 10% less damage. Utilities in your post seem as good as goad/Invigore/Mantra.

Also INT doesn't fit well for melee non-magic attacks such as Quick Thrust. Maybe INT and DEX/STR for RDM would make more sense

[Madrone]

Maybe you should wait until people finish editing their posts.

@ OP I am not sure about crippling RDM with 10% less damage. Utilities in your post seem as good as goad/Invigore/Mantra.

Also INT doesn't fit well for melee non-magic attacks such as Quick Thrust. Maybe INT and DEX/STR for RDM would make more sense

It's not a flat -10% damage really... its that weapon damage stat is lower like BRD/MCN weapons. I make RDM Fire even with BLM AF III Fire mechanically, but build in some innate weakness with the lower weapon D because it has 2 DoTs/strong autoattacks/stronger casting in Ice phase, combo bonuses/Doublecast instead of procs, and no tier IV or Enochian; and the hope is to hit weaker than BLM with the same spells, sustain a dps a bit lower overall, and enjoy less reliance on turreting. Same deal with Cure compared to a Healer's Cure, but that's innately weaker from lower Weapon D and healing potency penalty because RDM is a dps job. Its much stronger than other caster's Physick because I can't imagine RDM with an ineffective basic Cure.

While this weakens both melee and magic, I think its needed because RDM has SO MANY utility skills: raise, a strongish Cure, a weak Cure III equivalent on a cooldown, Goad equivalent, single target Shroud of Saints equivalent, two +5% damage vulnerability debuffs that are AoE, and a strong single target damage mitigation boost. Even if many of these things are on 30s-120s cooldowns, that's still a lot of utility to toss around that simply out-classes other dps' utility (except the aoe resource recovery of brd/mcn).

I don't know how it will play out with the numbers, but NIN/SMN level dps or a little lower would be good. I'm already afraid that strong DoT spells, auto-attacks, and its bursty doublecasting will be too good, and that removing spellblade's damage boost to same element spells and/or increasing Doublecast's cooldown might be needed to balance its dps. Possibly remove combat raise trait too. Then again, I may be jumping the gun because I'm comparing a level 70 apple to level 60 oranges. Who knows what all the other DPS will get from 61-70?

I will offer you some examples that didn't make the cut because keeping things balanced is the most important thing:

Sanguine Blade used to be Regen in this build, but I realized that the game content isn't tuned for an extra stacked regen to be coming from a DPS. Light party stuff would become much easier for a healer with a RDM Regen'ing and Phalanx'ing the tank. And even 8/24 man stuff could get pretty broke with a few RDM's adding their Regens in the mix. It would have to be unstackable. But who wants a spell that gets a no effect message a lot of the time because there are already regen effects from the Healer(s)?

Runic Blade used to be a mini-stance that acted like a temporary 4th SpellBlade element in this build. This sacrificed SpellBlade's bonuses and added Dispel effect to Discharge and AoE Blindess to Circle Blade. It also made Discharge, Circle Blade, and all melee damage immune to damage mitigation abilities (not damage shields though). Even though this type of damage "piercing through resistances" has been in Final Fantasy games before, I realized it'd be an unfair advantage over every other DPS job in some fights where bosses have strong damage resistance phases. It also seemed like too much extra complexity for very niche-use stuff. Runic Blade was tuned down to its basic absorb magic damage as mp cooldown.



DEX doesn't quite make sense for NIN's either since it was only used as a physical ranged main stat prior to NIN being added. But yeah, I feel ya that Quick Thrust and Pressure are both pretty obviously pure melee attacks, without SpellBlade. With RDM, I think multiple main stats would be bad no matter what you did with traits because of the way gear is stat'ed, and because of the materia system. I'm already a little frustrated by having many skills that use skill speed, and many that use spell speed, and I can find no easy way to combine them without breaking materia melding. This is why I circumvented Healing potency/MND issues by binding it to a percentage of INT with a trait, and making MND have no effect on anything (easy since it only effected Cure). I could try do the same with the speed substats but they each have an effect on many skills. If I used a trait so one = the other, or one adds its value to the other... then someone would try melding both speeds on a piece of gear and either waste their materia with no warning that it would give 0 effect, or worse, find out that they can double-dip one or both stats.

The game needs to stay as brain-dead simple as we can reasonably make it, so there has to be just one main stat. The idea here with all INT damage is that SpellBlade is always being used once you learn it, the same way SCH's and SMN's are always under the effect of Aetherflow. And since SpellBlade imbues elemental energy in your sword... its an easy leap that INT can be the main stat for melee damage skills. Since this ability is learned at level 15 and future jobs would be starting at level 30+, we don't even have to fret over the awkward pre-Spellblade period from levels 1-14. If the job was called Mystic Knight instead of Red Mage, would you still think its sword skills should use STR instead of INT?

Yes, we could make SpellBlade actually change those skills and auto-attacks from STR based to INT based... but is there any value to having that extra complexity? Do we need another "My skill just did double-digit damage? Oops, forgot to turn on my stance." thing? Or is it just simpler, to say main stat is INT because of theme/signature skills, even for the few cases where that doesn't make sense. My final comment on the subject is, NIN magic is still powered by DEX, and PLD Flash is powered by STR.


@Dererk
haha, 1k char limit boss one-shotted with post edit. Thanks for the sentiment though. I actually did leave out about 5-10 pages worth of discussion of design problems/inspirations, detailed individual skill explanations, damage bonus compounding and cast speed math, and rotation theory. I figured if people really want to spend the time to read my Book of RDM, they can wait for me to publish it.

You win: BLU can share RDM's left side gear and also has INT main stat.

[Nomad-phx]

Break the xi mold(this. Ain't. Xi) and make it a tank. If it's interesting enough we might see a freaky thing occur and actually experience a balance of roles lol

[Ashelia_Ferron]

I've got a question. It says that Spellblade has infinite duration AND recasting reapplies stacks.

So then, it's a "stance" that can't be turned off? Because that just seems odd.

[Sir_Hermes]

What about blaze/ice/etc spikes, *reduces targets damage taken by 10% and reflects elemental damage half of that" or something lol

[Anova]

Sounds an awful lot like the DRG rotation with a smattering of the SCH's aetherflow, BLM astral/umbral mechanics, and PLD block and self-healing.

It does meet the requirements of a tank, healer, and mage with this, but it's pulling too much from all the RDM variations in the FF history. Pick a single concept (like dps) and figure that out first. You can leave abilities blank and fill them in later with all the utilities you want. I just see a bunch of tank, mage, and melee abilities mashed together that end up feeling the same as those existing classes.

Also, you should never have any junk abilities. Every class has marginally less useful abilities, but there are technical uses for them that just don't matter because of the current meta or specific dungeon fights. They're never designed specifically not to be used.

[Velox]

DEX doesn't quite make sense for NIN's either since it was only used as a physical ranged main stat prior to NIN being added.

NIN relies on precision hits rather than brute force. DEX makes the most sense from a lore standpoint.

http://i.word.com/idictionary/dexterity

[Madrone]

Break the xi mold(this. Ain't. Xi) and make it a tank. If it's interesting enough we might see a freaky thing occur and actually experience a balance of roles lol

Popular job, popular role, i.e. dps. Make your own RDM tank build. I've read several.

It breaks tank paradigm by not wearing the same heavy armor sets or using STR. Being an actual caster (not all spells instant) while taking hits in the face is a rough way to try to play. As you said, not XI, so no Utsusemi. Defensive buffs and self-healing, it could have a-plenty. There are still some "______ Knight" jobs out there that could come in as tanks.

I've got a question. It says that Spellblade has infinite duration AND recasting reapplies stacks.

So then, it's a "stance" that can't be turned off? Because that just seems odd.

Yes, its like Aetherflow. You use it and it stays on unless you instance zone. You can use up the stacks, which makes it so you can't use SpellBlade-powered abilities, but you don't lose the SpellBlade damage bonus or element trait effects. Its also a little like NIN Poisons, in that it gives you a permanent damage bonus, and shifting element may change added effects on a skill, the way switching the Poisons does. It has a very tiny Dash of Grit- no constant mp drain (that would be messy to combine with Astral Fire), but it does make the skills that change Spellblade's element (and AF/UI too) cost a little mp.

Probably should note that it either resets cooldown or stays on through death. Its mandatory to have on all the time or your damage will nosedive.

What about blaze/ice/etc spikes, *reduces targets damage taken by 10% and reflects elemental damage half of that" or something lol

That would be much more useful if it was a tank and/or had hate abilities, unless you mean those to be cast-able on someone else? I gave it a couple of defenses, and Phalanx is better to use on the tank most of the time.

Sounds an awful lot like the DRG rotation with a smattering of the SCH's aetherflow, BLM astral/umbral mechanics, and PLD block and self-healing.

It does meet the requirements of a tank, healer, and mage with this, but it's pulling too much from all the RDM variations in the FF history. Pick a single concept (like dps) and figure that out first. You can leave abilities blank and fill them in later with all the utilities you want. I just see a bunch of tank, mage, and melee abilities mashed together that end up feeling the same as those existing classes.

Also, you should never have any junk abilities. Every class has marginally less useful abilities, but there are technical uses for them that just don't matter because of the current meta or specific dungeon fights. They're never designed specifically not to be used.

Thank you for your feedback. Its supposed to be a bit of everything- blm/whm spells and a sword/shield user. I gave it some identity with classic signature skills and "grease the gears of the party engine" support skills. CNJ cross class basics and mediocre efficiency for Cure does not a healer make, and that was the cut made to make it fit the dps role.

One/two defensive moves are pretty standard even for a DPS. Phalanx is really meant to be used on others unless you're solo or in trouble- most of the support abilities are. I make you make the choice between using them selfishly or not. It cannot steal hate except maybe with a Chainspell nuke spree (but that's what Quartata enmity shedding is for). It is not particularly tough- same phys def & hp as BRD/MNK/NIN/MCN, just better mdef & a shield. Buckler type shields would have a low block rate, but I can change it to a parrying dagger if its too much of a defensive advantage. Thin sword and no off-hand feels wrong to me. I gave it one melee positional skill, and its odd/risky- front. RDM is already full of tactical decisions about utility & spellblade resource use, and makes a tight rotation, so a lot of positionals didn't seem like a good fit.

The goal was to stay a little true to its jack of all trades heritage, just gut the healing capacity and align it to DPS w/ utility. I wanted to borrow/mirror THM style magic but keep it low tier and bend and twist it to fit the sword/spell combos. Since it uses two resource pools without much worry of running out, I figured a 3rd resource to manage was needed. Aetherflow's template seemed like a better fit than Wrath or Ammo. Stretch out the timer a little, and give it RNG procs to get some extra stacks between reuses so that's its not a static use one of A, one of B, and one of C every minute, and I force it to babysit a DoT and rotate its combo as part of the deal.

Yeah "junk" just means abilities that aren't all that useful. Riposte is that type. En Garde's not that great. Thunder totally replaced by Thunder II (for RDM, not BLM). Most jobs have at least a few.