So now that we have ranged AOE damage functioning the way it should at 100%, I believe it is appropriate to remove the -20% damage penalty to IPS. Since the nerf to what was holding everything back, the Hunt's End shot (and the previously killed Adrenaline shot) have been removed from the game, there should be no reasonable reason to keep the -20% damage to IPS. I hope this was simple an oversight and not a continued bias against IPS / ranged, so add that to the next sprint and let's get this resolved.
You know not what you're asking.
Do you realize that almost every time they've touched ranged DPS in the past few years, regardless of the reason for touching it, it ends up being a nerf in one form or another? Sure, maybe they improve one aspect but for whatever dumb reason they seem hellbent on always nerfing some other aspect of ranged DPS when they do.
Adding AoE but simultaneously nerfing Hunt's End burst damage by >40% for example. Even the *benefit* gained from the addition of AoE was very disproportionate between different ranged build types. Some classes got a lot of AoE options, others got very little.
Remember the Inquisitives disaster? "
Internal testing shows us OG Inquisitives are exactly where we want them to be" then 6 months later,
"Oopsie! Inquisitives were stupidly god-tier OP'd and must be fixed immediately!"
How'd they fix Inquisitives? They nerfed the Inquisitive tree specifically but also nerfed every other aspect of all ranged DPS to the tune of a >30% reduction across the board. This wrecked archers, gxbow, repeating xbow, and thrower builds. They did that just to fix one universal enhancement tree...
Granted, they do the same sort of stuff with other types of DPS occasionally, but for some reason it's usually to a lesser degree. I suspect they have at least a marginally better understanding of the other DPS types than they do ranged.
Although recently, DPS casters seem to be getting the ranged DPS "balance" treatment (aka nuke from orbit with extreme prejudice) so maybe I'm wrong about their level of understanding.