ARC Auto-attack = Ranged attack..

[Corrderio]

Auto-attack on all classes is pretty weak, most of the dps comes from the TP attacks.
Besides, the Ifrit fight is more about survival than DPS, and animation lock is usually what kills every class on that fight.
Especially true for mages who have longer cast times than our light shot attacks.

And on Ifrit it's a lose lose for ARC. You either sacrifice damage and take the auto lock, or you sacrifice damage and get in range for melee, taking damage from Sear.

Seriously, there's literally no excuse for not having ranged AA.