please tell me how 3 elite carbines are better than 3 grenadier rifles at mid to long range? also tell me how a 140muni arty ability fake flares and some crappy beacon compensates for sprint boobytrap salvage (crappy) self heals and infiltration? 3 abilities vs 5? the only real argument is the double bar argument...
id throw that question to you if you think I&R pathfinders are anywhere NEAR JLI... even with 40% crit JLI would still be outright superior to I&R paths
Because if you take the literal middle range (17-18), the elite carbines have a higher DPS (though its basically equal) than the grenadier rifles. Yes, the carbines are worse by a decent margin at max range. The carbines absolutely demolish kars at close range. That dynamic itself sounds about balanced.
The I&R pathfinder arty is generally agreed to be the best artillery ability in the game, while medkits are generally agreed to be one of the worst abilities (alongside capture point on the IS2). Of course, I find infiltration to be the most understated aspect.
I think I&R pathfinders are very much pushed to a utility role and it shows.
And as a final note, you probably shouldn't do a raw "3 abilities vs 5" argument. It's the same misguided thinking that applied to OKW vet for some units.