Comparing katana users from a few years ago vs. now, they're pretty similar. The year before the wpf curve patch, Katana was +1 cut and +1 speed, which negated the wpf difference after the curve hit. The biggest difference is that only a few players had the privelege of creating OP builds, and wouldn't dare to create a possibly gimmicky build. The encounter is no worse than it was back then, but it's just more common now with free respecs allowing for all types of gimmicky builds. Definitely feels less of a power trip on my high level character than before, which is a good thing imo.
Eh, personally I'd just deal with it just like old crushthrough, old turn rate, polestagger lock, cav knockdown lock, 80% health from a leg shot, etc. Similar to the global free respec from the wpf patch, a bunch of high-level optimized builds can cause problems in player experience. Even if athletics is difficult to deal with, I have trouble internalizing how something like a 12/33 is better than a 24/21, or is it bad that the 12/33 is viable at all? I think there's merit for both sides. Having less powerful gimmicks increases restrictions but helps standardized the general power level and player interactions.
