So hear me out, I think I figured out why it feels so bad to play mage classes in early game. This isn't about the ability to spam Magic and Combat Arts, that applies to all classes as the game progresses.
Enemy Archers, the Intermediate class in particular, are actually the most likely to throw a bomb at you from offscreen (probably Break Shot) compared to their Advanced and Master cousins. Snipers are more likely to use Tornado Shot, which has shorter reach. Then Bow Knight gets a horse, which opens them up to the many anti-cavalry measures we have.
Still, it's kind of hard to escape Gremory branch early on. So many of the girls have this paper mage build...
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