With the thrall nerf, our guards are a little weak… especially when starting out. The first perk in Authority is Irritate to make enemies attack thralls instead of the player. That’s good when you have thralls that can “take it.”
I would recommend switching Irritate with Attentive Care (keep the perks the same, just switch the order in which they show up). Attentive Care gives better healing (which thralls will need when just starting out and getting some experience). Then, Irritate is good after that point to let thralls be the focus of attention.
Follow-up: The Thrall nerf feels somewhat weak for unaffected thralls (especially when they are level zero). However, an Authority build feels pretty good. Thralls definitely get much better.
So yes, the thralls do get noticeably better with Authority. Its another tradeoff – want good thralls? Okay, what are you willing to give up for good thralls?