Red Mage Melee Suggestion

[Rilifane]

Please no.

End-game encounter design is heavily skewed toward having two melee and two ranged DDs, and making RDM even more melee-oriented than it already is will just put us in an even worse position. As it stands, we have to know fights from both a melee perspective and a ranged perspective so that we can take up a melee spot in a party with a ranger and another caster, and we can take up a ranged spot in a party with two melee DDs.

If RDM gets a higher focus on melee damage, we lose out in parties with two melee DDs, because they have to be in melee spots, and the other casters would have an even higher lead on us at range so why bring a RDM at all.

This so much.
I already had to fight tooth and nails for tanks and melees to leave me one tiny spot for a measly ~5s during mechanics like Thunderstorm on e5s or that I can stay a bit closer during HoH on e6s so I don't have to delay it and mess up the subsquent timing. More often than not they were unwilling because it put everyone at a signifcant higher risk and I've seen so many deaths happen when a RdM was in a double melee comp and everyone played more on the greedy side.
And those were only a handful of mechanics. Now imagine having to more or less permanently deal witht this.
You already have to be really careful on some fights with your gap closer and melee combo, adding more melee-ranged skills will either constantly cost dps because you won't be able to use them freely or put others at great risk/ killing them when the timing or positioning was slightly off.

Endgame fights aren't designed for 2 1/2 melees, period. Even with two melees one often has to bite the bullet and lose uptime. No double melee comp half serious about their performance would take a RdM.

[Gorondu]

This so much.
I already had to fight tooth and nails for tanks and melees to leave me one tiny spot for a measly ~5s during mechanics like Thunderstorm on e5s or that I can stay a bit closer during HoH on e6s so I don't have to delay it and mess up the subsquent timing. More often than not they were unwilling because it put everyone at a signifcant higher risk and I've seen so many deaths happen when a RdM was in a double melee comp and everyone played more on the greedy side.
And those were only a handful of mechanics. Now imagine having to more or less permanently deal witht this.
You already have to be really careful on some fights with your gap closer and melee combo, adding more melee-ranged skills will either constantly cost dps because you won't be able to use them freely or put others at great risk/ killing them when the timing or positioning was slightly off.

Endgame fights aren't designed for 2 1/2 melees, period. Even with two melees one often has to bite the bullet and lose uptime. No double melee comp half serious about their performance would take a RdM.

Again, the normal rotation would not change. You do the same thing as before. You only have the option to use your melee attacks instead of EReprise when in melee range. Thats it. End of story.

[Eloah]

Again, the normal rotation would not change. You do the same thing as before. You only have the option to use your melee attacks instead of EReprise when in melee range. Thats it. End of story.

But I believe that's what all of us are saying, the melee moves are usable when in range, they are just not as efficient as your spells or their enchanted upgrades. Try hitting a striking dummy with your melee combo. You'll see it still deals decent damage. As for the gauge usage if it's not at a full 80/80, that more or less depends on your playstyle. Because if you were close to the 80/80 mark anyway, waiting is the better option, and inversely if you weren't close at all, the gauge isn't an issue.