Just to be clear, my suggestion here was actually to replace the trait. In other words, once you have access to Refulgent Arrow, Straighter Shot does not become Refulgent Arrow. Rather, Straighter Shot is gone at that point. The Heavier Shot now does something completely different. Now it replaces Heavy Shot itself with Refulgent Arrow. Straight Shot is untouched and does not share the proc. So you now have the option to refresh Straight Shot freely after banking a Refulgent Arrow, which overlays Heavy Shot.
This WOULD be an actual rotational DPS increase, because you can now (over)extend your Straight Shot buff one GCD further than before, or use one more Heavy Shot per Iron Jaws. Generally, for those who were already playing correctly, that's just a 10 potency gain, but its reduced skill gap would probably amount to more for most players over time (probably around 140-320 potency per IJ, if previously very negligent).
...May I suggest Refulgent Arrow? At that point, though, priority would be EA (if no stacks WM or 1 stack AP) > RA > EA (if overcapping) Straighter Shot (if retained) > Heavy Shot.Barrage being able to apply more than one effect, for the sake of game-play would be amazing.
But it would add a lot of power and is the least likely of being implemented imo, since that amount of power would have to be taken out somewhere else.
True. Adding a single stack adds 100 potency, down from 130. The second adds 140, and the last adds 180. (The value per stack increases by 20 each time, after all.) However, this change would also increase concerns of overcapping. If the cooldown and the global (DoT) tick sync, you're looking at 1-2 stacks wasted per song, costing 200 to 360 potency over the 30 seconds' duration. Compared to leaving the 15s recast separate, attached to Bloodletter, it can be up to a 100 potency gain, or a 60 potency loss. While this would perhaps increase skill gap and offers new RNG issues of its own, I simply chose this design over the nerf of locking out BL/RoD completely because at least it retains the reliable 2 stacks per 30s. So again, it's not a perfect idea by any means, but I favor it in the same sense that I preferred not to have multiple stacks/charges of Bloodletter available in Heavensward's Bow Mage; I like the risk of waste, to a degree.The Pitch Perfect idea where BL/RoD are replaced with Wanderers Minuet counterparts during that song while keeping the 15sec = stack mechanic sounds pretty sweet.
This would add some power though and isn't just QoL. Also the way WM works right now doesn't have serious issues with it, but nevertheless a great idea which would improve game-play and one I'd gladly welcome.