Arelith

I wanted to ask the development team a question about the design of the harbinger class.

With the old hexblade, I really enjoyed the fact that I could take five levels and gain fighter-like benefits (a discipline dump, extra AB) while gaining a familiar.

I had a character that did this, and while his build was kind of weak compared to any competitive spreadsheet build, it was functional and 10/10 fun. I was considering doing this again and taking a different familiar to explore different RP options, but the new harbinger doesn't gain familiar access until 7. 7 harbinger is a little much, and starts to cut into the effectiveness of almost anything that isn't a harbinger.

I hear that the hexblade is supposed to be replaced entirely, and as a consequence we're arbitrarily losing one of the most compelling dip options in the game.

My questions are the following:

Under the principle of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", was there an actual problem with the original class gaining familiar access at (I think) level 4? Was this a necessary change? I find that granting a familiar slightly later has zero balance impact on dedicated harbingers and enormous flavor impact on anyone who was using the class to gain some suboptimal melee support and familiar role play.