I remember that one month where I completely wrecked the NA cRPG community with my arbalest, which wasn't even called an arbalest, yet. (Karma and Duc Volpe-inspired build, by the way.)
This was prior to the heirloom reset that happened however long ago... I want to say a year, but maybe it wasn't that long? Anyway, I re-masterworked my arbalest after the reset just to find out that the reload time was lengthened and there was a decrease in damage. I tried the 1h/Arbalest route for one generation afterward and it was never the same. I could only shoot a maximum of 3 bolts per round, which wasn't worth the frequent repair costs. I lost money anytime I equipped the arbalest.
Let's just say that I never used my MW arbalest, again. And in the last month, I had a friend sell my MW arbalest because I saw that it was no longer a viable asset to cRPG gameplay.
RIP good times with the arbalest.
Signed,
Kolee