For anecdotal reference, I don’t sacrifice RP / character integrity for min/max (best example here is that I don’t use Healthstones. Heathen things 
even when mythic raid prog).
I want to be able to pick a motif (covenant) that matches my characters rp but not have that tied behind what appears to be a lackluster to use skill.
Throughput isn’t a consideration. I reckon that both the “throw five shields” and the “unholy consecrate” skill from kyrian and venthyr respectively won’t be game changing, but when compared to how thematic blessings are for the paladin class, night fae just clicks - but only because of the paladin class ability. The night fae covenant motif doesn’t (yet) jive with my backstory.
Thus my main boggle is not tied to throughput. It’s tied to my character identity, something I’ve not heard mentioned yet.
Legion was class identify - more about spec identity I humbly think. BFA was faction identity. And now it’s back to class Identity with depruning.
The character identity is freely up to the player to choose. But I feel there is a lot of baggage that comes with one choice (which covenant) that feels like your rolling for a backstory for a DnD session that lasts most of 2 years.
Ok, lol maybe a bit over the top. Nonetheless, thank you for your respectful input. Sorry for being verbose.