the way I see it (and saw it during POD) was that the extra levels allowed for more diverse builds, but also allowed for the strengthening of builds that are traditionally harder to pull off (and rightly so, such as my shield thrower build I mentioned in another thread). because armor and weapon damage values won't necessarily change, that means hybrid melee/ranged builds will be much easier to pull off while being highly effective in both departments (21/18 with max PT, PS, ath, and WM). obviously most players would elect to remain a pure, stronger melee class, but just being a higher level won't mean the same +3 transitional will be scaled up to stop 7PD war darts from shredding it