Arelith

Before sharing my thoughts on spellsword balance, let me elaborate on the general design direction I’m pursuing with my custom classes, paths and reworks. In essence, there is a framework of class abilities and passive bonuses that, by themselves, make for a versatile and viable character and provide a solid baseline for numbers. Meanwhile, paths are optional (yes, optional) additions that specialize in parts of the kit at the detriment of others, though the final performance is meant to be comparable to the unpathed “generalist” variant of a class.

STR marauder, before the changes, overperformed in almost every regard: Thanks to Epic Weapon Specialization, they had (and still have) more damage than every other spellsword. Their enhancement bonus allowed them to stack further damage on weapons like the Unfettering Edge and achieve similar damage output as a falchion while ignoring the usual associated feat cost of an exotic weapon. The Unfettering Edge also made for a great burst damage weapon, which synergizes well with the path’s instant attacks and hit and run playstyle in PvP, enabling them to kill some targets within less than a round. Long-lasting and high CL Haste (which they still have), as well as solid AC for a two-handed build also made them hard to pin down, yet even in that scenario they had free physical DR.

Remember my earlier statement about trade-offs and final performance. Significant benefits such as these require similarly meaningful downsides, because otherwise there is no reason not to be a marauder. However, pre-update marauders only missed out on 30% DI and 15/- DR against a single element since Greater Weapon Imbue granted them the same level 26 perks Imbue Armor would have otherwise offered. That is why these Greater Imbue perks disappeared to give the path a meaningful trade-off. Meanwhile, losing their enhancement bonus did not actually lower their damage, it merely changed their weapon selection and the associated feat cost, making some build decisions less straightforward.

I know having a character’s abilities dialled back never feels great, but perhaps these insights make the update a bit more understandable. In any case, the ongoing “to marauder or not to marauder”-debate tells me there is an actual decision involved now - and that, in my opinion, is an improvement.