Just to add to the flow of the discussion: even if Palace Guards are to hypothetically acquire the status of a heroic unit, the implementation of the regular lancers from BOTFA would probably give the faction too many means to counter cavalry, and that's something we ought to avoid.
Therefore, another alternative I personally envisaged could be the very removal of Lórien pikemen, the inclusion of Mirkwood lancers as the regular anti-cavalry unit of the faction and the considerable broadening of Palace Guards' role as iconic royal guards. Referring to the latter case, the new royal guard could consist of 5/10 units per battalion (with the maximum of three battalions permitted) and shall be given the possibility to toggle weapons; not only would they thus be made more relevant in the game (more unique), but their overall activity would have much wider spaces of action at hand. About the removal of Lórien pikemen, this is certainly a quite radical of a proposal, but there are some positive arguments which we may bring at the common attention.
First of all, I have no knowledge whether the lore gives clear information about this, I have personally never viewed those pikemen as something so much proper for Lothlórien (the specific faction); I feel their addition was more an obligated choice for balance-related reasons. In my own opinion, the legitimate core of Lothlórien's infantry/archery are the regular border guards from BFME2 and the versatile Galadhrim; that's the main conceptual focus. Following the above-mentioned suggestions, Mirkwood only will then have the hegemony of anti-cavalry countering, ending up being much more differentiated and with a broader role as a subfaction. Obviously, Lórien would consequently be subjected to many threats by riders in the early stage, yet that might be seen as a possible strategic risk in equal terms.
As an additional defence at the beginning of the game, we could consider the early-defence role that Woodsmen are endowed with according to Fredius' proposal. However, I'm perfectly conscious that all these ideas I hitherto addressed rely on very what-if premises and, most importantly, on a concept about which the Edain Team has not expressed itself yet. But I nonetheless wanted to create a common ground for a possible significant overhaul, and I hope we shall head thither.