I then brought up the default party and edited in all possible skills for a knight.

The only improvement I could see was that he can now Master Bow. But all of his armor skills are decreased he can't even GM Plate anymore much less Master Chain or Leather. Also only expert in Axe.

It seems to me that he his much weaker than before or am I doing something wrong?

I really hope I made a mistake because I almost always play with a knight and if this is really the case, he has become nearly useless to me.

I only did this for the knight so I could see what was new with him . . I did not try it with any other characters.