>>96076459
>I’m impressed GW has made the Phoenix Power Spear worse in every edition!
I think it's a sidegrade in comparison to 2.0:
Downsides are one less S. (with terminators getting T5 not making it better).
No instant death on 6+ to wound on multiwound models. (You can still kill a 2W model in 2+ on a charge with a lucky +6 to wound.)

The positive thing is it's always D2 on a charge, which doubles its effectiveness against 2W units that people actually use (veterans, reavers, rampagers, now raptors).
It seems like all 3+ squads lost an artificer armor on a sergeant, so killing them will be even easier.
Striking first became even more important now because many rules that ignored bonuses to combat resolution are gone, many units lost access to FnP and Heart of the Legion, and they will run away if enough models are killed. Spear will help with that.
I don't think this is going to be a good weapon for a challenger, though. Most units that can go into challenges are in 2+ now with at least 3 wounds. You have a chance to kill them with a lucky strike with a +1D gambit, but I wouldn't count on it. Rare Sergeants that can get into a duel usually won't have a number of attacks to fish for breaching, even against 5++.
Throwing a couple of spears to a squad of palatines might be a good idea, though.