I'd like more sword play from RDM in the future, melee and ranged

[Shurrikhan]

6. The current implementation, again, has sword use for a third, roughly, of its moveset.

Counting off abilities off a list is not an relevant, accurate, or otherwise useful way to account for how much theme said abilities take up within a job. The following are.

1. Amount of time spent within the given skill-set, proportionately to others.
2. Duration of rotational strings obliged by the skill-set.
3. Number and depth of concerns made in preparation for those rotational strings.
4. How these concerns augment, cohere to, or complement concerns elsewhere.
5. Number and depth of concerns made during those rotational strings.
6. How these concerns cohere to or complement concerns elsewhere.
7. How much the concerns those rotational strings face to improve damage after their conclusion seems a bonus of those skills, rather than mere setup for more important skills thereafter.

In all these regards, RDM's melee phase is utilized with a bare level of mediocrity. Now, that's not abnormal for XIV job design, but it certainly doesn't mark some immutable height of perfection we should never touch if there's an opportunity for net improvement in the above criteria.

[Klaleara]

Counting off abilities off a list is not an relevant, accurate, or otherwise useful way to account for how much theme said abilities take up within a job. The following are.

1. Amount of time spent within the given skill-set, proportionately to others.
2. Duration of rotational strings obliged by the skill-set.
3. Number and depth of concerns made in preparation for those rotational strings.
4. How these concerns augment, cohere to, or complement concerns elsewhere.
5. Number and depth of concerns made during those rotational strings.
6. How these concerns cohere to or complement concerns elsewhere.
7. How much the concerns those rotational strings face to improve damage after their conclusion seems a bonus of those skills, rather than mere setup for more important skills thereafter.

In all these regards, RDM's melee phase is utilized with a bare level of mediocrity. Now, that's not abnormal for XIV job design, but it certainly doesn't mark some immutable height of perfection we should never touch if there's an opportunity for net improvement in the above criteria.

Agreed with this. Our rotation WITHOUT Manafication takes on average 45-50 seconds. And within that 45-50 seconds, we spend at most 4 seconds in melee. Not quite a third imo, even if you do add in Manafication.

[MirronTulaxia]

1. I'm not talking about the balance gauge, though I do consider it a good thing. I'm talking more literally. The current job is balanced three ways by the three poles of Red Magic.

2. Or, you can have it work like it does currently, where it is actually present even if it's just in the form of the damage spells.

3. Changing the role name requires changing the underlying system where ranged vs melee carries weight. And ultimately sword and magic are tied together currently in Red Mage. You keep stating desires that are covered by the existing system.

4. You'll have to provide actual evidence and not bold claims that Dualcast, as opposed to the Balance Gauge, is at the center of the job. I offer a proposal. What happens if you remove Dualcast versus what happens if you remove the Balance Gauge? If you remove Dualcast the job is a bit less fluid, but it still works. If you remove the Balance Gauge you remove the entirety of their enchanted attacks, all of their upgrades, and in general lose what makes the job what it is. Feel free to provide some sort of evidence to the contrary, but I don't see it. You can make do without Dualcast. You can't make do without the Balance Gauge really.

5. And if you describe the job gauges and such for any job they don't fit. Do Black Mages spam Fire and then recharge with Blizzard? Do Summoners throw around DoT with a weird charge system? So on and so forth. The specific execution varies from game to game in general. Black Magic in FFX, for instance, has no status effects, in spite of that being a big part of the job previously. FFXI Black Mages have access to six elements in a major way, while most FF's they only have three of note (they may have more, but it's up for debate if you'd call them "of note"). I can do this with any job. They all shift, from game to game, depending on the circumstances and what fits. In X Black Mages don't have status effects because Wakka has them. In XI Black Mages have all six elements because they tried to create a more balanced approach to the elements in terms of importance.

What does all of this have to do with Red Mages in XIV? It's the same story. Red Mages are a job that uses Black, White, and Sword to great effect. You can not remove any of them from the job, and the entire system is built around using the three. In XIV this takes the effect of balancing Black and White to use them both effectively and unleash an enchanted sword attack. Why does it work this way? Because it's a Ranged DPS, and needs to work in such a way that it can perform that role without conflict. That it has actual sword attacks as opposed to simple sword discharges is plenty for it given the role it has.

And the sword not having a major presence outside of... the entire focus of the job, is not a criticism of note.

6. You have to replace them because, again, they're a key part of the way the job works. You could replace them without spenders. But then what does the job look like? It doesn't fit the same way. Thereby indicating you need them to make it really click together.

7. Yes, and again, it's a Ranged DPS. It should be spending a lot of time at ranged. That doesn't change the fact that the sword is an important part of its moveset and overall ability list.

8. Neither Caster DPS nor Hybrid are acceptable options, unless you go with the latter and make it a Limited job. So, again, you need to design within the system and not outside of it. If you can't then you can't make any valid complaints.

9. What you've proposed is either a 2:1 or a 1:1 ratio when it comes to physical vs magic, when it would, at least, need to be 1:2 because again, it's a mage. And again, it needs to fit the ranged aspect. It isn't a melee job. It shouldn't be spending too much time in melee range. It causes balance options unless it's specifically a Melee DPS, and if it is then you should emphasize that more. Maybe borrow from Fencer for stuff.

10. As I have said repeatedly, ideal world? I'd make Red Mage a Melee Caster DPS or Support. That isn't an option. So then you need to look into the current system and see what you can do. You could, theoretically, make a Red Mage for every one of the five roles barring perhaps Ranged Physical DPS (they do get Bows fairly regularly, but I think most would balk at them being a bow user, even if funnily Serah and Lightning from XIII are very Red Mage like with the changing weapons). Each one would emphasize different things over the other. Here? We have a job that uses magic at range then jumps in to do some fancy sword work. It's a Ranged DPS, and ultimately this is the way it should be because to do otherwise destabilizes the system.

[Katie_Kitty]

I'd love them to expand on RDM's melee abilities as well. The problem is they've kind of designed themselves into a corner with the way the job is set up and it's difficult to think of ways to do so without completely overhauling the job's playstyle. Maybe they could implement a continuation-style oGCD combo to weave in-between melee combo casts. Maybe scorch could give you a buff that activates a separate melee combo after completing the full initial melee combo phase. That might be a pretty neat idea.

[Duelle]

I'd love them to expand on RDM's melee abilities as well. The problem is they've kind of designed themselves into a corner with the way the job is set up and it's difficult to think of ways to do so without completely overhauling the job's playstyle.

This is something I very much agree with. The way the job plays is airtight to the point you have almost no venues to make additions. Incidentally, this is why we got Scorch, replacement skills (Engagement) and upgrade traits with Shadowbringers.

It is possible to add some sword follow ups after Scorch, though we might run into the issue where you lose out if the combo gets interrupted for any reason, which is already a bit of an issue if the boss does prolonged stuns for phase changes or becomes untargetable. I am more on board with oGCD additions that can be weaved in during regular gameplay, though I also feel that has the risk of butting heads with Fleche and Contre (and Corps/Displacement/Engagement if you use them on cooldown). Then again, it would probably lead to an organically-created priority system, which might turn out to be a good thing. Bonus if it contributes in some way to resource generation (which means even more enchanted melee combos).

Or, you can have it work like it does currently, where {white magic} is actually present even if it's just in the form of the damage spells.

As I said, I'd aim for distinction in the uses for the magic RDM has access to. I'll also appeal to tradition here since RDM's damaging magic has been the Fire, Blizzard and Thunder spells.

Changing the role name requires changing the underlying system where ranged vs melee carries weight.

The name change itself would does little other than necessitate SE saying something to the effect of:

"We're very excited to introduce Red Mage as one of the new jobs for Stormblood. Since the job will be joining Black Mage and Summoner and has a martial/melee/physical side that these jobs do not have, we'll be changing the label/category/role name from Ranged Caster DPS to Caster DPS. Black Mage and Summoner will still play like they do, but this will allow Red Mage to ply its trades as you venture into Ala Mhigo and beyond!"

during the event where RDM was unveiled. Then you'd need to tune the intended DPS output for the job and go from there.

And ultimately sword and magic are tied together currently in Red Mage. You keep stating desires that are covered by the existing system.

Considering my beef with the gameplay is how underrepresented sword use is, no, what I wanted is not covered by the existing system.

What happens if you remove Dualcast versus what happens if you remove the Balance Gauge?

Resource generation slows down to a crawl, leading to players either just spamming Jolt/Jolt II or eating the 5s cast times for Veraero/Verthunder and praying for Verfire/Verstone Ready procs. DPS output falls down off cliff, though utility would stay similar in terms of off-heals (no rez mage meme which I guess would be the silver lining). You'd also see a lot of complaints about how dull and one-note the job plays.

The balance gauge works because of Dualcast and the flow of gameplay is dependent on same. The design as such would fall apart and be in need of big revisions if you were to remove it.

If you remove the Balance Gauge you remove the entirety of their enchanted attacks, all of their upgrades, and in general lose what makes the job what it is.

......

You have to replace them because, again, they're a key part of the way the job works. You could replace them without spenders. But then what does the job look like? It doesn't fit the same way. Thereby indicating you need them to make it really click together.

You'd lose enchanted attacks and the finishers. And because when we can't leave gaping holes in ability lists, we have to replace them with something to take the place of what we removed.

Also, removing "melee combo => Verflare/Verholy" and replacing it with "not-Flare => not-Holy => not-Meteor" does little to the current design other than making the mobility skills less useful. You'd also be able to stand at range 100% of the time.

And if you describe the job gauges and such for any job they don't fit.

Except I'm describing the gameplay, not just the gauges.

What you've proposed is either a 2:1 or a 1:1 ratio when it comes to physical vs magic, when it would, at least, need to be 1:2 because again, it's a mage.

If RDM were the average robe-wearing caster like BLM, I could accept that physical damage wouldn't figure in the equation much, if at all. That's not the case, because by concept the job wields a sword and magic.

So then you need to look into the current system and see what you can do.

There isn't much room for anything in the current system because of how tight the rotation is. The most we'll see is incremental changes, if we're lucky.

Just for the record, my write up isn't meant to be a bunch of changes I'd apply to the job right now, because it's way too late for that (players have already been exposed to the current design, and some like it; a major change right now has the chance of going over as well as Heavensward's version of Wanderer's Minuet). It's only there to illustrate the direction I feel the job should have taken in development. If SE ever manages to adjust RDM to the point I see it as a satisfactory alternative to what I wanted out of the job, I'll change my sig and remove the link to the write up.

It's a Ranged DPS, and ultimately this is the way it should be because to do otherwise destabilizes the system.

I'm assuming this is tied to DPS output, which I've mentioned can be tuned and adjusted where necessary. I'd personally aim to have it land roughly where it currently is in terms of DPS output, being the lowest of the three casters, about on part with DRG and MNK (assuming the 95th percentile in FF logs is an accurate representation of where they land DPS-wise).

[Archwizard]

I'd love them to expand on RDM's melee abilities as well. The problem is they've kind of designed themselves into a corner with the way the job is set up and it's difficult to think of ways to do so without completely overhauling the job's playstyle.

The way the job plays is airtight to the point you have almost no venues to make additions. Incidentally, this is why we got Scorch, replacement skills (Engagement) and upgrade traits with Shadowbringers.

I disagree entirely. Given how broad the current playstyle is (the only driving factor of the primary rotation is "hardcast into dualcast", that's literally it), there's lots of room for new additions if the devs are imaginative with mechanics like timers, procs, or multi-type Mana builders - you're just trying to avoid "complicating" it while asking for a shift to a completely different playstyle. It's only "airtight" from the perspective of asking for "more melee"; the only part that's static is the melee combo itself, because RDM isn't a core melee job and only hits the combo every 40 sec anyway.
The reason we got mostly upgrade traits, replacement skills and quality-of-life adjustments is because the devs wanted to shore up the base of the new job they made, before expanding the top end of it.

Every time I see a thread like this, I have to iterate: What you want isn't more melee skills, it's more melee uptime. Under the current model, more mana-spender skills just means more time casting to build them, so the ratio of casting to melee would be relatively unchanged (or possibly shift in the opposite direction).
HOWEVER, the more melee uptime we have also means less time spent casting and more time where you're required to be in the melee, giving up the ranged advantage of the job and a chunk of the job's impressive mobility.

If you want to play a melee-caster hybrid job, ask for a Spellblade.

[Duelle]

Given how broad the current playstyle is (the only driving factor of the primary rotation is "hardcast into dualcast", that's literally it), there's lots of room for new additions if the devs are imaginative with mechanics like timers, procs, or multi-type Mana builders - you're just trying to avoid "complicating" it while asking for a shift to a completely different playstyle. It's only "airtight" from the perspective of asking for "more melee"; the only part that's static is the melee combo itself, because RDM isn't a core melee job and only hits the combo every 40 sec anyway.

Considering this thread is asking for more sword use, we are on topic.

I'm not a fan of timers, and RDM's current gameplay wouldn't really support it unless you create a window of time that doubles mana generated or causes a Verspell to generate both types of mana (which might work if the ability in question is oGCD). Procs run the risk of clashing with Dualcast and slowing down the spellspam rotation. Even if the procs are free enchanted weaponskills, the trick will be in ensure a) there's incentive to use them and b) it isn't counted as a weaponskill to cancel Dualcast. Well, unless you intend for the proc to activate automatically without any player input.

Under the current model, more mana-spender skills just means more time casting to build them, so the ratio of casting to melee would be relatively unchanged (or possibly shift in the opposite direction).

The OP was asking for sword use and melee uptime. That doesn't translate to more mana-spending skills.

HOWEVER, the more melee uptime we have also means less time spent casting and more time where you're required to be in the melee, giving up the ranged advantage of the job and a chunk of the job's impressive mobility.

If you hypothetically increase melee uptime while keeping the rest of the current design, you're either going to get DPS contributions shuffled around or adjustments to how mana is generated to compensate for the loss of GCDs spent casting spells. At least that's how I'd do it if you plopped the design in front of me and told me to make it happen.

If you want to play a melee-caster hybrid job, ask for a Spellblade.

I think we should focus on getting RDM when it needs to be first, then worry about designing a Spellblade.

[MirronTulaxia]

Snip

As I've never said it is the height of perfection you're simply setting up a strawman. What I've said, time and time again, is that it is a ranged caster and for that the amount of melee it has is more than enough.

Snip

1. Aiming for distinction that will ultimately lead to using White Magic as a token effort is not exactly creating a balance of white, black, and sword. Vercure and Verraise are already things, and unless something goes horribly wrong they aren't really used. So your proposal is simply taking away White Magic as a thing. As far as tradition goes you're proposing a job that is not at all traditional, again Red Mages are not mostly melee fighters, so you're not exactly in a place to make an appeal to tradition, which is ultimately a logical fallacy.

2. So then you have a role that ultimately doesn't have any real cohesion. That isn't a solution either. The melee and range aspect is an important distinction, arguably more so than whether it's a caster or physical.

3. What you want is a job that isn't the same as what Red Mage is traditionally, and doesn't work within the system. Some desires aren't reasonable.

4. My point was that if you remove Dualcast clunky as it is the job would work fine. You could probably tweak some numbers to fit things still. If you remove the Balance Gauge then the entire system falls apart.

5. Honestly this is just the same as four. You keep acting like Dualcast is the keystone for the entire design, but with some numerical changes you could keep something mostly the same and it would still work. Maybe not as exciting but it is what it is. If you remove the Balance Gauge, again, you need to overhaul the entire system. You can't just tweak some numbers and expect it to work. The Sword skills are the same way. They're part of the current design and carry weight, even if it isn't dominating the system like you desire.

6. The gameplay is "balance White and Black Magic, use Sword Magic to finish" more or less. Which, again, fits Red Mage. If you start getting into the nitty gritty of any job it doesn't fit past games, almost as though offline games are going to work a bit differently from online games, along with other issues.

7. Red Mages still do wear robes. Better armor to the point of... I don't know, Archer-tier, sometimes happens, but it's not universal. They are better at physical stuff than White/Black/Summon Mages are, but they're still not physical juggernauts who spend most of their time on the front line. Even the time they got called a Battlemage they still used Mage armor. They just got to have Shields on top of it. That's not exactly the face of a guy who spends most of his time in melee.

8. When I talk about "look at the current system" I'm not talking about Red Mages specifically, I'm talking about the skeleton framework that makes up XIV's battle system in general. How the roles work, how they mix and flow together, things like that. It's why when I say things like "ideal system I'd have melee mages as a category" that's acknowledging the current system doesn't have them. Honestly if I was keeping them in the five basic roles I'd probably have Red Mages be a tank myself, but sadly a DoM tank isn't going to happen either.

9. It's not just about DPS output, but about how mechanics play out and things of that nature too. A job that spends its time flitting between two different lines at a regular basis just is going to make more problems than not.

10. Long story short, Red Mages fit the series standard within the parameters of XIV. The only other option that would work for what you seem to want would be a Limited Job where they can do any role.

[Duelle]

Aiming for distinction that will ultimately lead to using White Magic as a token effort is not exactly creating a balance of white, black, and sword.

Having something that most of the DPS roster lacks is not a token effort. A cure, even if weak, is better than having no cures at all. Same goes for being able to rez. This part of your post reminds me of the nonsense back in HW when people complained Divine Veil was useless because it didn't have a really short cooldown.

As far as tradition goes you're proposing a job that is not at all traditional

There's a reason I was specific about the job's offensive spells. And all I did was give the job a mechanic to tie sword use and spell use to each other. The single-player RPGs don't usually have room for such mechanics because of turn-based combat working as it does in addition to building most jobs around a singular purpose/ability. Good thing we're playing an MMO, which isn't restricted by that framework.

The melee and range aspect is an important distinction, arguably more so than whether it's a caster or physical.

The current distinction is that melee DPS output is balanced around expected uptime because they have to dance to mechanics, while ranged in theory don't have to deal with that much. I say in theory because groups tend to just stack behind the mob outside of phases where certain people have to stand in certain spots. With this in mind, the only times my design would have anything you could call an advantage over jobs like DRG, MNK, NIN and SAM would be in fights like E2S or Titania, where mechanics or battlefield conditions might lead to them standing outside melee range (though really, that usually happens if you haven't pre-planned who is going to stand where). I mean, if there's more situations where there might be issues, I'd like to hear them (and I'm being serious here).

What you want is a job that isn't the same as what Red Mage is traditionally

What I wrote has black magic, white magic, and a sword. As I said several posts ago, black magic to hurt things, white magic to heal/protect, and the sword to hit and stab. That is what the traditional RDM has on its plate.

My point was that if you remove Dualcast clunky as it is the job would work fine. You could probably tweak some numbers to fit things still.

Calling the result "clunky" is putting it very lightly. It'd take more than a numbers tweak, since you'd have to look at the rate mana is to be generated, whether it's worth it to keep/redesign Jolt (if not, what should it be replaced with), what to do with Verfire/Verstone, how to work out the AoE rotation (or if there should be one at all). The way the job casts magic would need numerous changes if you removed Dualcast.

Red Mages still do wear robes. Better armor to the point of... I don't know, Archer-tier, sometimes happens, but it's not universal. They are better at physical stuff than White/Black/Summon Mages are, but they're still not physical juggernauts who spend most of their time on the front line.

I wouldn't expect RDM to be a juggernaut. I would expect them to be able to at the least pull their weight in a fight.

Even the time they got called a Battlemage they still used Mage armor. They just got to have Shields on top of it.

They do have native access to some heavy armor (heavy armor 8, 9 and 10, though you needed to set Exodus in order to gain access to them).

When I talk about "look at the current system" I'm not talking about Red Mages specifically, I'm talking about the skeleton framework that makes up XIV's battle system in general. How the roles work, how they mix and flow together, things like that. It's why when I say things like "ideal system I'd have melee mages as a category" that's acknowledging the current system doesn't have them. Honestly if I was keeping them in the five basic roles I'd probably have Red Mages be a tank myself, but sadly a DoM tank isn't going to happen either.

My issue with a "melee mage" category is that you don't have much in terms of jobs to put into that category outside of RDM, Mystic Knight (which I'd totally like to see as a tank) and possibly Geomancer if you copy the FFT design for them (despite the challenges that would bring).

A job that spends its time flitting between two different lines at a regular basis just is going to make more problems than not.

Reading this sentence gives me the impression that you're having issues visualizing how I expect my write up to play out.

You combo Quick Thrust into Iron Thorn, which makes the next spell instant. At the start of a fight you can use any of the three elemental spells to start, but once you do that you have to properly react to the rule of three mechanic to maximize DPS. When you cast a spell in this way, you have a 50% chance to proc Dualcast, allowing an additional instant spell (which you also want to cast following the rule of three to maximize DPS). Each spell cast generates Aetherblade, which can be consumed in an enchanted weaponskill combo if you fill the bar completely, or spend parts of the bar on certain spells if needed. Insert oGCD skills where applicable. This, by the way, is expected to be done at melee range.

The only time you'd really want to leave melee range is to get away from a boss telegraph or to react to mechanics. Going back to E2S, if you have to run to one of the black ground marks that is not in melee range of the boss, you can hard cast whichever corresponding spell in the rule of three system (since they have 3s cast times), which has a 50% chance to proc Dualcast for an instant spell to follow up. You can also spend part of your Aetherblade bar to cast Jolt, which is a spell with a 100% chance to proc Dualcast, or perhaps use Fleche to guarantee your next spell has a 100% chance to proc Dualcast. Either or is better than what the melee jobs have in that same situation, which is nothing (MNK), Piercing Talon/Enpi spam (DRG and SAM), or Raiton provided Ninjutsu is not on cooldown (NIN). As soon as the mechanic ends, you can run back to the boss or use Balestra to close the gap and continue combining sword swings with spell slinging.

You're not going to spend time flitting between two lines. If you do, you're not going to deal the job's intended DPS.

You're saying absolutely "It can't be done" and only supporting that with the biased statement, "I don't want it to that way."

As I said, the rotation has no real gaps in it for intrusions. You're either messing with Dualcast (unless the addition in question is oGCD) or intruding upon spellspam, which affects resource generation.

And yes, as a preference I dislike timers, but have already given suggestions in that vein. You could probably do something like the Wildfire window but affecting resource generation in some way. Not a fan of Wildfire, and I wouldn't be a fan of that either.

Without changing the current model, they could still add spells that would increase the rate of Mana generation, which would tacitly reduce the time spent spellcasting and increase the time spent melee comboing.

These sound more like upgrades to existing spells rather than new additions.

If you want more melee uptime in the current model, you either want them to give RDM more/bigger generators, or just cheaper melee skills. The former goes against your philosophy because it means the devs visibly shoring up the magic side, the latter of which they could do with a trait which is a solution you have already complained about.

My concern with higher mana generation per spell is that it necessitates looking at the imbalance threshold between white and black mana. You can't increase mana generated without also removing or increasing the threshold, otherwise the job would go off-balance within the rotation instead of as a result of player carelessness. That, in turn, somewhat diminishes the whole point of maintaining balance.

Now, if you remove the current model as a factor - meaning practical use of some weaponskills are independent of Mana - then we have to ask the question of "When would it be appropriate and satisfying to actually use a melee skill?", which is again, wha the Balance Gauge originally intended to answer.

If I'm reading this right, you're trying to tell me that weaponskills are not satisfying unless its glowy sword swings that are used once every 14-18 GCDs. I'm gonna beg to differ on that one.

Let's say that the rotation is rewritten so you have a melee skill or combo every 15 sec - maybe a skill you generate a charge for on a 15 sec CD that increases the potency of your next spellcast or applies a DoT or something. Suddenly, actually spending any significant amount of time at range as A Ranged DPS Job becomes a stacking detriment on your output, which means the job's freedom of mobility is affected.

Freedom of mobility? People already stack behind bosses for most if not all content. The only place this might create a problem is in dungeons, and even there you're AoEing down everything and can plausibly stand in melee range.

At which point, in a real fight, you just have a stronger answer to Piercing Talon or Knife Throw, with cast times instead of positionals.

Being able to offer some utility is nothing to scoff at. It doesn't factor much if things go perfectly, but the moments when it is useful are fairly satisfying.

Nothing about RDM's current model blocks a Spellblade from being designed under a completely different one.

Call it my being jaded by FFXI, but part of me expects a hypothetical Spellblade to end up being "the thing RDM should have been, minus the heals" instead of its own thing. I already saw this happen in XI with BLU and am not keen on seeing history repeat itself.

[MirronTulaxia]

Snip

1. You're arguing that the melee skills Red Mage has don't matter because it doesn't use them enough. This is the exact same argument. If you're not going to use White Magic regularly then it's just a token part of the moveset. The big difference is that unlike your claim with melee skills you actually are going to use them every dungeon, even if everything goes smoothly. White Magic the way you have it set up shouldn't pop up ever if things go smoothly.

2. The current system ties spell and sword use together, so you're not making a sound argument. And restricting their offensive magic in such a way while reducing their White Magic isn't a good thing.

3. That is a distinction, whether you consider it enough or not is irrelevant.

4. And what we currently have has black magic, white magic, and a sword. So you're just trying to redesign the wheel here.

5. Relative to the difficulty of removing the job gauge, which the entire job is designed around? Yes, I consider Dualcast a lot easier to remove, especially as most of what you described are simply numbers tweaks.

6. Red Mages do currently pull their weight in a fight. In terms of the series as a whole? They're usually a detriment on the front lines. If your options are other mages a Red Mage is better on the front line. Otherwise? You're better off sticking them in the back with a bow.

7. I wouldn't call that native access as it requires having access to a specific Esper. The Espers, to me at least, feel more like extra specs or the like as opposed to the baseline of what the job is expected to do. Especially given Exodus is a late game optional Esper, using that to say "well Red Battlemage uses heavier armor regularly" is kind of weird.

8. In terms of jobs they could do they could do plenty of things. Blue Mage and Green Mage, for instance, could both fit into that. You could make Ninjas be a melee mage (focus more on ninjutsu), Dancer could have been this, so on and so forth. Not even counting that they can make new jobs too.

9. If you're not moving between the lines then, again, what you made is not a Ranged Caster.

10. While most of what you said to Archwizard isn't too important to chime in on, the fact you see Blue Mage in XI as what Red Mage should be is pretty telling in terms of what you're expecting, and why it isn't really reasonable.