Undrave
Legend
I too think that it is the DM's job to work out where professional game designers who supposedly spent years playtesting the game they published got things wrong. And that after normally spending over $100 on the three core rulebooks it should be acceptable to assume that every DM should fix the game they paid good money to buy. Oh wait.
If the DM is significantly diverging from the assumptions stated in the rules and this makes a class suck this is the DM's issue to explain and counterbalance. But if the class is significantly underpowered the blame should lie not with the DM but with the game designers. The DM can try and put in a patch job as a replacement - but the expectation should be that the DM isn't a professional game designer and any professional game designer worth giving money to should be able to produce a decently balanced product - and better balanced than your average DM.
It also doesn't help that the game doesn't include any sort of real guideline for what magical items load out is appropriate at various level so you don't even know HOW to compensate for a weaker character and you might end up overcompensating with the magical items.