Often in these discussion, especially with the scapegoat that is Empathy these days, the conversation is always how “relevant” a powerset is. A well played Empathy Defender is far and above more useful than a poorly played any-other-defender and the same can be said of any AT - whilst yes, healing is not seen as overly relevant in end game this is another generalisation that Empathy is a “healer only powerset” - it isn’t.
People play CoH in many ways, and on my server ‘end game’ content is run once a week, not every day, and as such is not exactly crucial to keep in mind. There is more to this 20 year old game than what’s considered the current best spec.
Everything is viable, and your own enjoyment is essentially the most important thing when considering powerset choices. Empathy is not dead, and it is absolutely valid to enjoy the powerset.