D10 + CHA damage is not that different than a heavy crossbow.
But you are right. Cantrips on 5e are better than ever. But if the enemy can close the gap in one round, your cantrips will gonna be useless. With this NERF toy range, everyone will be pact of blade warlocks...
Yes, d10+stat is the same as a heavy crossbow, but damage types do matter. The idea that they are much farther behind than everyone else until 6 was a point I disagreed with.
I already agreed with you that nerfing ranges to the extent that you can close that gap in 1 round is too much. It should be 2-2.5 rounds of movement for a long range spell imo. That would make it much harder to catch a kiting caster while giving bonuses to classes with speed bonuses (Rogue / Monk / Barbarian).
