Hey.
Welcome to the forum Akyote.
Yeah, I had a feeling this might happen... the Strength change was always going to be a little tricky for "melee mage" builds like Hand of the Dead encourages. In theory, a melee mage should be able to pump Vitality instead so they don't have to "waste" points on Strength, but even if this is done it will put them at a disadvantage compared to previous builds that didn't penalize them for low Strength.
But, on the flip side of things, a "melee mage" always has the option of subbing in ranged attacks and heals, whereas a physical melee has a very limited options for alternatives by comparison. I feel like the Strength change does an overall good job of compensating for that.
So, while I'm not sure I want to change how Strength works again to fix this... I do agree "melee mages" might have tumbled into a rougher spot than I'd have liked. If I want them to remain a thing and don't want to tweak Strength back, they're going to need something that makes the concept worthwhile in the face of the higher damage they take... but, it will need to be something that isn't easy taken advantage of by normal mages, or we're right back where we started.
Then again, there are early signs the Strength changes may have also given too much of a boost to melees. If that ends up proving true, an easy fix would be to simply diminish the effect of Strength on damage taken in general. It's still too early to have certain data, but I'm keeping an eye out.
Thanks for the feedback.
I hope you've been enjoying your time in the tower.