#RIPRDM

[Duelle]

It means that gameplay will be more than just standing at range spamming spells most of the time, since there will be huge opportunity to weave plenty of additional ogcd effects between casts for a very fast paced playstyle. BLMs are turrets because they don't have time to do anything but stand there and cast. RDM will not be standing there just spamming spells and nothing else. And even if it does end up to be just standing there during the spell part of the rotation.

The only oGCDs I can think of would be Contre de Sixte, which is AoE and has a cooldown. Procs don't turn spells into oGCDs. Melee skills are on the GCD and can't be weaved in because you lose Chainspell if you do (not to mention you won't be in range to use them anyway).

The BRD comparison doesn't hold water, because despite the whole "1.5s casts means I can move more than a BLM" claim, you were still standing in one spot and spamming casts. Hell, half of the arguments belittling the people that hated WM were based on "well BRD doesnt get to run like an idiot while attacking too", acknowledging that the job doesn't get to move like it used to. Having a slightly easier time dodging telegraphs did not negate the fact that WM turned BRD into a turret, and by the same vein RDM is looking to play as one.

We need to build ~80 mana in each type to be able to unleash 3 melee attacks according to the video. It takes 2 gcd to build 20 mana, so that's ~16 gcd without the use of any cooldowns. We then unleash 5 gcd worth of melee and leaping rapier attacks.

Not with the way Chainspell works. This is why Jolt seems to be a very important part of the set up for Chainspell, since Jolt => Val Aero/Val Thunder means you're getting 12/3 mana per 2 GCDs. The only way you'd get 20 mana in 2 GCDs (not to mention skip using Jolt as a set up) would be if you get a proc to allow Val Fire or Val Stone to be cast.

And that's two GCDs spent getting in and out of the front line, with three GCDs doing actual swordplay.

That's a ratio of ~25% melee to 37.5% black magic and 37.5% white magic. With the use of the cooldown as shown in the video we only need to build up ~40 mana in each type taking ~8 gcd to do so, so the balance is ~38% melee to 31% black magic and 31% white magic.

Unless the cooldown on the double mana ability is 30 seconds or lower, you can't really count on it in the middle of a rotation. And even using your numbers, that 75% spamming spells, 25% using the sword. With numbers like that, the use of the sword might as well not be there; you'd probably get more bang for your buck replacing that with a three-step Ultima spell and saved yourself the 2 GCDs spent to dash in and out of melee range.

That they're not doing them simultaneously while in melee appears to be your biggest hangup. To be honest it sounds like you actually want a rune fencer/magic knight with the degree of emphasis you are placing on being in melee. Your melee rdm suggestion from your signature certainly reads like a magic knight with it's emphasis on weapon en-spells and exploiting them.

A mystic knight doesn't have much beyond just casting spells through their swords. Concept-wise, they're a very shallow idea that managed to work in the older FFs because job system = classes are designed as one-trick ponies.

Enspells are actually a callback to FFXI's RDM, and I'd be lying if I denied that I really liked the idea behind them. Those spells in concept are supposed to be the RDM trying to close the gap in attack power, since a RDM is obviously going to have less base STR and attack power compared to a fighter. If a musclehead fighter is dealing 100 damage per swing, a RDM with an enspell up was supposed to come close to that; the damage would just be split between their clearly inferior physical power plus the effects from the sword enchant. This largely didn't work in XI because they went crazy with how resists and magic accuracy worked, and that the devs purposely made enspells scale terribly didn't help, but it was a solid idea and a very good step forward for RDM (the same goes for Phalanx). I'd go as far as saying that Enspells (and Phalanx) do a great job emphasizing the hybrid nature of RDM.

Anyway, regardless of your opinion, the design is not going to change significantly from what is coming apart from number tweaking, so your choice is either to learn to enjoy it (or at least not hate it) or to wallow in bitterness and disappointment.

Who says I'm trying to change the design? This thing has been in development for more than a year now, so the devs have committed to it. While I understand that some will take to it because it's better than being a refreshbot, try to keep in mind that some of us (because it's not just me; I just happen to run my mouth more than others) are allowed to be disappointed after 5 years of suggestions and feedback yielded next to nothing. My path is laid out before me, and that does include criticizing what has been presented.

Have a good day.