Additional Information:
Reforging a weapon that you have previously Ascended will remove the applied Etheric Light. The Etheric Light in question will not be returned to your Inventory and Ascension will be removed.
My Opinion:
Once etheric light is used to ascend a weapon, it should not be lost when reforging along with typical perk upgrades. Etheric Light is conceptually giving a weapon a tier upgrade, not a perk upgrade. Reforging is about perks and should consequently only reset perk upgrades, not damage value tier reset.
There must be an internal discussion on why the Etheric Light would be lost, I just can't think of it. Bungie, can you elaborate or discuss?
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You don't get the exotic shards back when you dismantle a fully upgraded exotic