Design Philosophy Behind Duelist Start

I keep trying to theory craft builds as duelist, but I always reach an inescapable conclusion. Start as Marauder or Ranger.

Here's why: Duelist has a very efficient exit.

Attack speed, for example.
Duelist's best attack speed node is Art of the Gladiator at 12% plus a ton of other good stuff.
Duelist's start is shit.
To reach Art of the Gladiator, you must first begin with a 6% node (okay) followed by a 3% (shit) to reach two 4% nodes (good) ending in another 3% (shit).

He has to deal with too much shit to get to the juicy bit, and as I said before, he has a very efficient exit--this also means a very efficient entrance for other classes.

This is fine and good, he has a good tree but when his start sucks, and his nodes are accessible, it's Ranger/Mara or gtfo.

By comparison, Mara starts with a big MPD node, or a decent armour/life node. Ranger begins with an inspiring 8% APS into a useful early/mid game 20% accuracy, or an amazing EV/Life node. These each then lead into other nodes that don't suck.

Why, first of all, is Duelist's APS start only 6%? I get it, ranger is faster, but why not 6% and +14 flat AR/EV? The value from this node is lacking compared to (most) other starting nodes.

Duelist start should be (imo) 6% APS + (something) -> 4% APS -> 2x 3% APS -> 4% APS -> AotG. At least, this way, Duelists can skip the 2x shitty 3% nodes to travel through two of his life + ar/ev to reach 4% then AotG. His other side is not designed like this, with 12+life->12-12-12-10 MPD nodes; these make sense, he get's better bonuses near his start, and a weaker node closest to where other classes could dip in.

As it is, it feels like I am being penalized for playing (or, theory-crafting) Duelist.

What is the design philosophy behind this, that his good nodes should be less accessible to him than they are other classes? No other class has to tax themselves to reach their good stuff; they tax other classes by forcing them through less efficient paths. Except Duelist...

High cumulative attack speed, more projectile damage than ranger, 40% mana regen node, high hp regen, high shield block, close to blood magic.

Play another class if you want but don't complain that deulist is crap, that's BS.

he's kinda right, though. the good nodes in the duelist starting area are accessible easier as other classes than duelist himself as duelist is forced to invest into some really lackluster nodes.

Other starting areas punish OTHER classes for branching into their tree because the juicy targets are a little closer to the starting point making it quite an investment for other classes

- Duelist punishes himself for picking nodes in the Duelist starting area because HE is the one to make a big investment to get to the good parts.

The result is, all other classes can pick the good duelist nodes better than duelist himself.

[at least in relation to other classes, that is]