How are you supposed to beat certain Masked Carnivale fights?

[EusisLandale]

Yes to both. Spells are literally doing half as much damage as they were last week.

Doing Hakkue Manor right now to get L5 Petrify because that spell refuses to drop. Last week I was doing a bit over 1200 to Maidservants with Sticky Tounge + Sharpened Knife. Today I'm doing just under 600.

The damage has clearly been nerfed across the board.

Sounds more like you're failing to land the spell while the stun's active than anything else. They didn't touch the potency of the skill within the last week, and as I recall the last time they did it was buffed. That said, doing less than half the damage is in line with not getting the stun bonus potency.