TL/DR: some things were needed much less than others, and Bungie went too far.
Let's take a look at the changes:
[b]Coldsnap/Iceflare/Penumbral freeze effect:[/b] the freeze duration nerf was needed in PvP. It really was too long and too punishing. I think this was a good call. (GOOD)
[b]Breakout damage reduction:[/b] another needed change. This will also help players who were having trouble in PvE, where Stasis abilities would literally stop you in the midst of an angry mob. Good work. (GOOD)
[b]Winter's Wrath damage bug:[/b] nice work, making a timely adjustment to this bug. You clearly learned from the SoA Witherhoard bug. Good, quick response before Raid Day. (GOOD)
[b]Winter's Wrath Shockwave damage to unfrozen combatants:[/b] this was a wise call, seeing as it costs literally nothing to spam the Shockwave, it has enough range to hit a whole Crucible map when standing in the middle, and unlike in PvE, you can actually be killed by the Shockwave (for those who don't know, in PvE the Shockwave alone will not kill enemies). So this was needed. (GOOD)
Now let's look at what Bungie done goofed.
[b]Penumbral Blast Range and Speed nerf:[/b] The whole "why not both" meme of decision-making that went into this just single-handedly screwed this ability. If you were going to nerf the speed, then don't touch the range, otherwise you should also touch the Hunter melee range. Fair is fair, right? Apparently not. You placed this melee in the twisted twilight of "either I whiff the ability queue and lunge for an open-palm slap to an Ogre in his Ca-balls, or I get stomp-spammed and god-handed into a wall." All that was needed for this ability was a freeze duration nerf for PvP and a slight speed and homing decrease. You went too far, with this (BAD)
[b]Winter's Wrath duration nerf:[/b] this was absolutely horrible decision-making not gonna lie to you. Unlike other long-lasting supers, this one does not have high mobility to it, has no refundability, and it already costs a ton to even use it properly. 30s was the IDLE time, meaning that if you just popped it and did nothing, it lasted 30s. But when you cast the bolts, it CHUNKS your bar. And the piddly little cost reduction you gave alongside this is not nearly enough to make up for that. While this seems okay for PvP, it's a NIGHTMARE for PvE, where it already suffered one crucial weakness: enemies had to be close by, to be killed by the shatter or hit by iceflare. You DONT want to use the Light attack very much with this Super, or it'll be done in less than 8 seconds. So neutering the duration the way that you did just demolished this super Nova Warp style. Now, its sitting with Nova Warp as the most worthless add-clearing super in the game. Really, if you're gonna affect the duration like this, you need to make the bolts have a larger AoE, as a START. (UGLY)
I really hate that, once again, PvP made terrible changes on the PvE side of things. The duration nerf alone has made me not even want to play Shadebinder anymore. I'll probably just go back to being a Gracelock for all content, again... except PvP where my rift will literally become a "freeze me pls" beacon of f*ck the hell no.
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What’s so sad is that this is a well worded and well thought out post but Bungie literally doesn’t give a single crap. PVP gets them views on streaming platforms. Those views turns into game purchases, IE sweet SWEET cash that we all know they desperately need. Bungie will bend over backwards to ensure their precious crucible is the best it can be.