From Meleewalker to Meleetrail

[Shurrikhan]

They could have still done scouting gear with ranged physical. Ninjas already share some gear pieces with the role as they are both dex based. I'm all for scouting gear but we just got a melee last expansion. So 2 back to back expansions with melee.

They're literally adding a Ranged in Dawntrail, and they added a Ranged in Shadowbringers. There are still more Ranged DPS than Melee DPS.

• A Realm Reborn 2.4: 3 Melee vs. 3 Ranged
• Heavensward: 3 Melee vs. 4 Ranged
• Stormblood: 4 Melee vs. 5 Ranged
• Shadowbringers: 4 Melee vs. 6 Ranged
• Endwalker: 5 Melee vs. 6 Ranged
• Dawntrail: 6 Melee vs. 7 Ranged

"But they just added a Melee last expansion!!!"

There is at least as much distinction between SMN/RDM and BLM as there is between SMN/RDM and BRD. There has been no more reason to categorize Physical/DEX-Ranged separately from "Magical"/INT-Ranged since StB than there has been to separate consider Maiming-Melee a separate Role from Striking-Melee.

Every job in the game uses Aether, and all but WAR and MCH use what is obviously magic. That Bard summons portals to simultaneously fire off several aetherial arrows is not particularly different from Red Mage's summoning and firing off several aetherial swords. You have, across the 6 Ranged jobs...

• Magic and Range (Higher rDPS, but less mobility and utility),
• Magic and Range,
• Magic and Range (less throughput for greater effort),
• Magic and Range (slightly more mobile, but slightly less utility),
• Magic and Range (slightly more mobile, but slightly less rDPS),
• and Technomagic and Range (slightly more mobile, but slightly less rDPS).

Nothing of consequence is unique to or tightly correlative with whether their magical ranged attacks are classified as "Physical" or not.