if you have a specific talisman you can find under Lyndell

It's the Lord of Blood's Exultation.

or you could learn how to make a build and realize that its still an exceptional weapon

Sir, you're at a wendys

PvP players never complained about this, it was always easy to deal with. It was PvE'ers and Redditors who complained about this because of bad red man

Ah yes, very unique. A double slash reskin on a katana with no unique attacks. Cope harder.

I hate the whole ER mindset of monkey mashing L2 through encounters. It's not a unique weapon. It has nothing unique about it. Even it's skill is just double slash with a little bit of blood thrown in. You want an actual unique feeling cool katana? Try the meteoric ore blade.

I like how being unique was entirely defined by being overpowered in PVE.

In pvp it was annoying to see so many people spam this weapon art, but if you got the timing down it was punishable. However, saying this weapon is a shadow of its former self is true, it is now something other than an ash of war spammer. Players now chose this weapon because of its unique qualities that set it apart from other weapons. It is a fire and bleed weapon that allows you to chose which stat you wish to invest in, being either dexterity or arcane, arcane increases bleed and fire damage while dexterity increases raw damage, allowing you to customize this weapon to your preferred playstyle. On top of that, while the ash of wars ridiculous damage has been reduced, it is now used in its more intended purpose, as a ranged weapon art that punishes whiffs and missed ashes of war. On top of that, it rewards the player for being more strategic with it as when you land the ash of war with the actual blade it does increased damage, promoting timing and strategy rather than mindless spamming. Sure the weapon isn't the godlike damage monster that it used to be, but now it has evolved into a more skill based weapon that with practice can still be powerful in the right hands.

the one based rivers of blood user

LoB’s Exultation + Rotten Winged Sword Insignia + Shard of Alexander + FGMS + Thorny Cracked Tear + Flame Shrouding Tear = “Restored” RoB. Is it a bit much? Yeah, probably. But still pretty cool shredding things with it

Hmm sounds like using the weapon actually requires skill now which is how weapons should be.

Anon the OP legit said they like where the weapon is now. Comprehension is key