[RDM] Please do not buff redmage's melee combo, buff verstone/fire/aero/thunder.

[VivianInfinity]

First off, redmage is fun. The core loop is fun, triple melee combo is fun, dealing with polarity and the implications of saving movement tools versus potentially sliding your oGCDs is fun, and the utility is fantastic. But it's abundantly clear that it is lacking in damage.

However, so much of redmage's damage is tied to Fletch and its melee combo that your ability to contribute meaningfully to a fight becomes tied to whether or not you critical hit and direct hit these abilities. Buffing the potency of these abilities further increases the variance in the class, making optimal play feel substantially more like luck than skill.

Meanwhile, redmage's filler duocast combo has damage that amounts to being nearly insubstantial. This makes them ideal candidates for buffs, as it wouldn't notably increase the variance between lucky runs and unlucky runs, since you spend a notable amount of time casting these spells. Additionally, the mere 20 potency difference between Jolt 2 and Verstone/Verfire makes overwriting procs almost negligible in opportunity cost, reducing the live decision making I feel like is core to the class.

Alternatively, melee combo components could be guaranteed critical direct hits, but at that point, it feels as though we should be talking about sweeping changes regarding how this game handles critical hits.

Please let me know what you think.