Yeah, Steiner does get the short end of the stick in terms of being usable in the first two discs. Course he makes up for it by being pretty powerful once his levels catch up. I had a playthrough where I actually purposely grinded him to be the same level as Zidane no matter what. Trading the Stellazio coins to get the Blood Sword early is super useful as well.

In terms overall, Steiner keeps gaining my love with each playthrough, being a close second behind Vivi for me. As a player character, he's pretty badass with a good skill selection despite most people ignoring most of them for Beatrix's skills.