I think courtiers are still useful but it is really hard to stop a region from losing stats over time.
Maybe courtiers should be able to prevent the reduction for a certain duration?
I wouldn't call the class redundant but the class definitely is less useful now.
Most regions my courtier visit can not be improved. Remember though the regions now tend to a steady state below MAX stats. The concept is that is should be hard to keep region stats maximised at all times.
