Thought about RDM's utility

[Archwizard]

Gonna keep this locked in the spoiler box just to keep it from potentially derailing the thread, but it seems to be winding down...

A NIN or DRG is not going to be able to cast cures or offer utility in a pinch. The closest thing we have right now is PLD with Clemency, and even that required a trait that removed spell interruptions from the table. That's where RDM's versatility would shine, and why I would push for melee strikes allowing instant spells. The player would have the choice between spending their instant spells on heals or nukes.

No, but a NIN or DRG wouldn't be spending GCDs on said sub-par healing either at the cost of their personal DPS. RDM still faces the same ability to be interrupted with Vercure, particularly since even Dualcasting Vercure (which is a terrible waste of the proc, mind), getting that proc means having full-cast another spell before it anyway.

On a personal note, I find the idea of hitting an enemy with a sword, followed by throwing a fireball at them at point blank range very satisfying.

I mean... the Verflare combo says hi.

Not necessarily. Spell use facilitated through melee is very different from spell use being allowed through melee. If you're at range for any reason (long telegraph, boss flies out of melee range), you could just hard cast spells or introduce a secondary mechanic that involves casting spells back to back. You'd do way more damage than a DRG (lolPiercing Talon) or NIN (assuming the NIN is waiting on a mudra cooldown) at range.

Big problem there though. Dualcast in itself is only a DPS gain not because it makes affected spells instant (which in itself only has a DPS value while moving or while oGCDs are available), but because it reduces their cast time below the GCD. This assumes then that, in order for a Dualcast proc mid-melee to come as a DPS gain, the spells it affects have to already bear cast times longer than the GCDs they consume.
So when it comes to spellcasting at range, as you've suggested, we're left with two potential options:

• One, that we're stopping while at range to hardcast spells that otherwise have a cast-time longer than the GCD. You would be hard-pressed to name one situation where a melee job being forced out to range but also limiting their mobility for longer than a GCD comes as a safe combination, much less a DPS gain; every situation I can think of usually involves a lot of running, and BLMs expressly gained tools to avoid that dangerous level of stutter-stepping. In fact those very situations are why DRG's Piercing Talon makes a fair comparison in the ABC game: it's instant, so you can keep moving.
• Two, that you have another spell to proc Dualcast with, like a Jolt or "VerScathe"... wherein the actual design is little different than what we have now, just with a general damage shift towards melee.

My earlier RDM write-ups had it as a DEX DPS, though that's largely because a ton of DEX gear was given aesthetics that suit RDM (Amon's hat comes to mind). I'm willing to be flexible on this, though.

I mean to be fair, it does wield a rapier. DEX would absolutely make the next most sense behind INT as far as melee, though I should point out that Amon's Hat and so forth are actually Physical Ranged DPS gear (which is, hilariously, the exact opposite role to what you're proposing).

I don't celebrate the existence of Reprise, as that skill is basically Scathe 2.0 in how it relates to the rest of the kit. Unless Manafication was recently changed, a 110s cooldown (still way too long) and a buff to magical damage dealt doesn't really lean in the direction of more sword use.

To address your second point first: You might be surprised! The reduction to Manafication's CD has now created two potential rotations based on whether or not you conserve it to align it based on party comp/coordination. The "120s Rotation" employs the use of Moulinet to delay our main combo for buff alignment.

And back to the first point: ... the fact that the above means we use Moulinet in single-target is rather jarring to me, which is why I had hoped Reprise would have been a substitute skill for that very purpose instead (in addition to other cases of "ABC is about to overcap my Mana but it's too dangerous to get into melee"). Alas, the fact that it spends even less Mana now means overcapping is less of a waste compared to multiple GCDs of it.

As such, I'm gonna leave this here as well, in case you're curious as to what one of my completed ideas look like. Far from perfect, but a direction I would have wanted for the job.

I don't think you're without interesting design ideas, just that they're misplaced to put them on the mantle of the Red Mage. I still think they would be much better suited towards a hypothetical Spellblade-esque job separate from the RDM.