I can't say if its better or worse, because I haven't used it enough yet, but I can certainly say it's not fun to experiment with anymore. I use passive mods, and have no need to change it regardless of what subclass I'm using. I play PvE at mid to long range. I'm not going to run into a crowd to pick an orb. Picking up orbs after an encounter is pointless, because armor charges decay. So I see no need to worry about build crafting anymore.