mounted combat proficiency.

[Smoothrich]

just nerf lances gawd

every other cav class is pretty difficult/weak and often leaves you very vulnerable to retaliation and simply don't need a class design overhaul

lancers on fast/maneuverable horses spamming couches and getting 1 shot kills with just thrusts all round long  while rocking a bec or poleaxe on their back are the imbalanced ones

[Torben]

just nerf lances gawd

every other cav class is pretty difficult/weak and often leaves you very vulnerable to retaliation and simply don't need a class design overhaul

lancers on fast/maneuverable horses spamming couches and getting 1 shot kills with just thrusts all round long  while rocking a bec or poleaxe on their back are the imbalanced ones

Skilled 1h cav can easily pare lancers in score and effectiveness,  2 skilled HA can turn the tide of an charged infantry formation,  HxB are the thorn in anyones foot.  I rly believe you are a bit too stubborn in your view,  maybe even opportunistic.
 Furthermore personal experience taught me that "easymode lancing" as in running through enemy flocks with a couched lance time and time again is a lot more effective in NA than in EU. Although I am aware that its partly due to my high ping,  it also seems to have other reasons.

and the last part of your post is just what I wan to discuss here.

[Smoothrich]

Make the heavy lance be a 3 slot weapon

BAM

Now they can't be 1hand/shielders or top tier polearms + lancers.  The heavy lance is very comparable to a pike, except usually doing way more damage every round, so a similar 3 slot penalty would be consistent and tone down the power of cookie cutter lancer/infantry builds spawning with all they need.

No need to grief a ton of classes that are relatively weak in comparison to the heavy lancer/melee hybrid.  Tweak "cav" with a scalpel not a butcher's knife to anyone with riding skill. 

Pretty much any melee class has a good chance against 1hand or 2hand cav, no one except long spears or pikes can typically take on a lancer.  The lances with insta kill couch abilities, shield busting, and being such effective anti cav/anti all infantry weapons that do insane damage should be adjusted first.

Horse archers and horse xbows have pretty shitty builds to begin with, getting athletics or spare WPF on them is a luxury and shouldn't be punished more.