If possible, I prefer either balance by buffing, or balance by specialization. I have seen these implemented with great success in other games.
I believe in this case, hybidization and some strong components of certain items needed to be fixed.
For balance by buffing, people don't like to have things get nerfed unless there is one tactic/item that stands out far above the rest. In this case, there were many items involved. I think increasing the number of counters to specific classes instead of nerfing everything may have been an alternative.
Balance by specialization is pretty much making the item a little different. Nerfing the overpowered aspect, but giving it certain quirks that still allows it to stand out in a less broken way. Speed, power, range, wpf relationships, etc.