Because one has build cost associated with it, the other does not? It's +1 Magic Weapon + diffrent Eldricht Invocation or +1 Pact Weapon. One is clearly better than the other. Not to mention that weapons with higher bonuses exist.
Yes, the improved pact weapon is better than the normal +1 weapon. I know you don't see it that way, but it is.
This only changes when, as you mentioned, you find a better weapon, At which point you can make that your pact weapon, and although it won't benefit from the +1 it's still your spellcasting focus, so it's then up to you if you want to swap out improved pact weapon for a different invocation.
And all this discussion is really useless because it's highly unlikely that larian will ever add the Xan's guide content
Lust pointing out that more options don't lead to actual increased build variety. Building character to some extent will always have to consider it's comparative power to other options. At every step of building a character you make a judgment based on what works better.
Okay. This is a topic that's I've already discussed at length with other people over actual tabletops. So please listen carefully.
The opinion that there are "best" classes/subclasses and "worst" classes/subclasses is a toxic mindset used mainly by powergamers and munchkins (or someone who only plays Adventurer's League), and it needs to die already. Because if we go down that road, then everyone will only be playing a tiny handful of class/subclass options and it'll be sad and boring. Being best at combat isn't something that I think about when building the majority of characters, it's "does this fit the theme I was going for?"
