Not sure if it's because I have put a good amount of games on my Quest (it still seems strong and I am very particular on maintenance), but I wouldn't call the Rogue Blade much of a step down. My Blade starts a little earlier and covers very similar boards as the Quest, and on house patterns I can strike with them both standing in the same spot and looking at the same spot.
I would recommend the Lethal Paranoia as a good step down, or Venom Shock Pearl to make sure the ball is weaker, and then tinker with surface to fine tune them.