Well said. I agree regarding ascension (hadn't put it into words myself). I liked seeing my gear retain relevance but it made everything very formulaic. Since HoW dropped, I've basically used just 3 weapons in PvE content: Fatebringer, Found Verdict, Gjallarhorn. Sure, I occasionally needed to match a burn, but otherwise, there was no reason to deviate. I was getting very, very bored.