The boring mage of red

[LunarEmerald]

Across 3 GCD's a Red Mage spellcasting will do, by some rough calculations, 750 Potency on average before Jolt II is unlocked, and 800 Potency on average after Jolt II.

By comparison the Red Mage's Enhanced Melee combo will do guaranteed 970 Potency over those same GCDs.

It should be noted that getting the most optimal spell combo (Procced Spell, VerThunder/VerAero, Procced Spell) is 840 Potency for 3 GCDs.

So yes, it always is worth it.

Is that taking into account time spent jumping at/away from the enemy? That's like 1 whole GCD wasted in time.