Cervul is a bit too strong...

[Saxton Hoovy]

I was something I noticed when playing swap, Alcedor kinda feels like the squire compared to Cervul.

Cervul's tools just make him better than him almost everyway , crossbow hits hard and hits multiple targets from long range. pravise makes allows you to just ignore any projectile , attack at melee and push the enemies back. bandage lets you heal small amounts of health that can be used to keep you above certain thresholds so you can preserve your healing better. Banner can buff the speed of his crossbow and axes greatly.
The reason I mention all of these together at their highest level is because none of his tools or their upgrades are gated behind story progression but by xp progression. This is made worse by the increased amount of enemies increasing the amount xp.

In comparison , Alcedor has his spells while stronger are gated behind story progression , better melee range and has access to potions. Most times there is almost no reason to play Alcedor over Cervul.

2 minor ideas I have to possible fix it is to have some of Cervul's tools or their upgrades be locked behind story progress, Like the different town blacksmiths or a random house or something or give Alcedor some more things he can do that unique to him.

#GiveAlcedorsomelove

Besides the balance between the characters , the update was great.

[St. Haborym]

If you think Good Cervul is busted, wait til you try Evil Cervul. While I mostly agree that Cervul is overall a lot stronger than Alcedor, there are a few situations here and there where Alcedor is objectively the better/easier character to use. Admittedly those are kind of few and far between though.

[Secret of Evermore]

I think his exp cost should scale more higher in each skill.

[Ninian]

I kind of like the story implications that Cervul is the smarter and more talented one. It kind of has an indirect message that traditional feudalist class structure is terrible. Because if Cervul just followed his father's trade... all that talent would be wasted shoveling poop. Serving a brutish but potentially well-meaning oaf of a duke.

In practice, I tend to still prefer to use Alcedor. Cervul is basically Batman -- he's always better if he's prepared or has the tool ready to use. But if you have the *wrong* one equipped, it'll take a few seconds to switch to the right one. Those few seconds can be all the difference in an engagement. Whereas Alcedor's kit is... far, far less powerful than Cervul's, he can handle literally any situation without pause and is much better in melee.

The two complement each other extraordinarily well and I found myself switching a lot. Usually leading with Cervul and tagging in Alcedor to either mop-up or if things go sideways and I need to bash my way out.

[Secret of Evermore]

Evil Cervul is stupid good with his fire bombs. He really should only be allowed to throw one pot at a time. The constant spam hit, explosion, and even the embers that come out of the explosion is just too much. Same with his summon spell. Set it down and it will clear everything.

But I think the point of Cervul was to have fun with your friends rather than a frustrating experience. I'm guessing that's why he's busted good.

[Ninian]

I suspect that's exactly it -- Cervul is a touch overpowered on purpose. The assumption here is that the person playing Alcedor is someone who's experienced with the game, whereas Cervul is played by a newbie you brought to the game. The experienced Alcedor player can handle everything by himself in theory, but in practice your new-to-the-game friend can contribute a hell of a lot with all the toys they have to play with.

[Gen X Gal Gamer Skye]

My partner and I did that backwards then. I thought there would be a bigger learning curve playing Cervul (I was wrong) so I played the trusty squire while she handled the Duke.

Cervul is hilariously overpowered. Good Cervul can clear screens in a single shot and sequence break the entire game while Evil Cervul explodes everything with eyeball bombs and can two shot any boss with a fully charged void beam.

[Fillanius]

Cervul does have a lot of strength in potential, but there is definitely a very sharp learning curve with Cervul, learning how to use the axes optimally is challenge enough cause there's 3 different arcs that they can be thrown at to memorize, and it takes a lot of muscle memory to be able to switch between his different tools quickly, and Alcedor can easily match this power by stocking up on mana potions and optimizing his spell usage, cause the spells are crazy strong.