Thank you for your answer. I understand your choices. Overall, I'm fine with the character progression, it's just that the early game can feel unfair with the lack of available options to combat stuff like poison and traps. As for the level progression, it does feel better later in the game, especially with Lastarviak, which makes things a bit faster. It's funny you say he's been nerfed, because I still find him very powerful :p
Keep up the good work, it's a really cool game, easily one of my favorite trad roguelikes. It's impressive to see how well it holds up to this day, while being 30 years old at this point.