I think swords do pretty well for damage. Rather, an idea I've had is: During your heavy attack, you are granted the benefits of blocking for the duration of the animation. This let's skill-expression come through - by timing heavy attacks (which are generally detrimental to total damage and minimally effective for dps), you can stay closer to a boss after it's stomp, and be alive without need of well of radiance. For shotguns, aggressive frame needs more reserve ammo. Their intrinsic "onslaught-esque" perk (final blows significantly increase rate of fire) needs to be played into. They're heavy-duty ad/major clear, not necessarily dps. They, in return, should avoid being buffed by the 35%.