Sordak, use magic, use necromancy, use alchemy, psionics, use steampunk technology, use frostpunk technology, use sci-fi technology, use real world technology(...) is far more interesting than swing an weapon. If you wanna know an game where i liked to play on melee, there are one. Vampire, the masquarede - bloodlines. Gangrel was an interesting clan, but even on VtMB, i rather play as Tremere or Lasombra(Antitribu mod), they unfortunately din't made thaumaturgy strong as on pnp, you can't use lure of flames or path of conjuration for eg. And before everything, i know that is almost impossible to implement 1% of things that you can do with path of conjuration on pnp into the game(maybe offer an list with items in the game and pause the game), but D&D was never meant to be an balanced game. Is a game about pretending that myths are real.
When you say that wizards needs to be crippled. Be real. What CRPG crippled an class and din't ruined the class? NWN2 warlocks are one example. Is borderline unplayable without an mod that fixes the class. The DC's are bugged, the SR checks bugged, i hated the class. But after this mod ( https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn2/other/warlock-reworked-102g ) that fixes the class, loved the class.
Honestly, i rather Larian not implementing any caster class than implementing in a crippled way. And pathfinder that is ultra unbalanced for you, most classes are B or C tier on the tier lists ( at least here > https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/pathfinder-best-class-pathfinder-class-tier-list ) and honestly, IMO Druid and Clerics are better than Wizards.
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EDIT : See the Bear Totem Barbarian on 5e if you wanna an powerful melee class;
