Cav are NOT good at all in head-on engagements. Even charging an archer or a thrower head-on leaves me or my horse dead 1/3 of the time....in one hit. Speed bonus, headshots...its not pretty.
Charging 2h or pole users head on is often suicide.
Only hope is charging 1h users head on. So no, Cav are not good at head-on engagements.
Cav are good at 2 things: (1)attacking unaware opponents and (2)attacking opponents engaged with friendly forces.
#2 is TEAM PLAY. Its the best thing a cav can do for the team...stay near the friendly infantry block (if there is one) and charge into the enemy infantry from behind or the side and bump, slash, and lance the enemy that is trying to engage friendly infantry. Cav is team play to work the best.
Sure, they don't
have to team play, but that's true of any class. Archers often go off on their own, and lots of good melee players go flank on their own as well.
The other thing that Cav is arguably good at is taking out other Cav. Most would quote this as an example of team play, but I disagree. Sometimes 2 groups of cav are just chasing each other around the map for the whole battle...and by the time one cav team wins, the infantry has slaughtered each other and the battle is already decided anyways.
Cav is not OP. If played properly, they are totally a support class for the inf. They can turn the tide of a battle this way...which is why its called MOUNT and Blade. It's an important class! Many players don't know how to use the speed of a horse though and just go off on their own...so its individual playstyle that determines if it is a team-work class or not. To counteract the enemy cav all you need is
teamwork to keep pikes guarding the sides or rear.
Stop trying to nerf everything! Just bring archers back up to damage and everything is fine.