I agree with (always very impressed on having you on the forums… thanks)
coming from Unity I shall say that most people do not understand that Ue4 C++ can be considered a simplified form of C++, not much difficult than using C++.
There are some improvements on editor /code integrations that are being worked on, but will not affect much your productivity, especially if you use a tool like Visual AssistX
On the modding part I posted an idea On the Epic Feedback Forum which could possibly be a starting point for Unreal Engine modding decisions.
Please comment what you think about it…
thanks
Fred