Truthfully, it should not be consired a nerf but a buff. Reason is because now other shotties have the Trench barrel perk, meaning that now any shotgun frame can be a bigger inprovement if you have the right perks and mods.
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That's... not a buff... those shotguns are still affected either way
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So having a Aggresive Frame, with Trench Barrel and Rampage with either a Boss or Major mod not better than the EP shotty?
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You could still have those AND the better version of Trench Barrel. The perk nerf has absolutely nothing to do with your ability to get a different shotgun with a better roll. Now that better roll just has a weaker Trench Barrel, too.
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We could either have a weaker trench barrel or no trench barrel, since its was one of the most OP guns in D2. It would have taken in the exotic life like Black Hammer, or even moved to the heavy slot.
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And yet, still has nothing to do with you ability to get a better version of EP shotty. So no, not a buff.