So I know it's still a little early to be talking about the House of Wolves DLC, but I wanted to suggest an idea for upgrading the weapons. I think they should keep like it is as far as spending the shard and having Xur upgrade them, but instead of a complete reset, I think it should add a second attack tree. This tree would take a little longer than normal to level up (but still not as long as a complete reset) and could cost ascendant mats (making them useful again) and then another shard for the final upgrade. This way we keep all the perks unlocked and it doesn't feel like we wasted the last three months leveling these weapons. Same for the defensive abilities of armor.