Just got it in trials. Two newbies, the other six veterans. I ran towers. Two canoneers who knew what they were doing - one tank, one healer. Main tank and main healer who knew what they were doing. The two newbies were DPS. We told them to stay under Vishap's belly and not move. They listened. He was dead before the third ward, on the first try. (Note that you didn't need the third ward with a very good group BEFORE the nerf, but that was rare.)

We should have let the newbies fail just once so they could get DUTY FAILED as you watch the Gate of Halone get blown up.

I agree, 33% less HP seems right. "More forgiving" is definitely the term to describe the nerf. You still need people who know what they're doing for an easy win, but if you have a new person do something dumb like miss a tower it's less likely to cause a total wipe.