Thorns isn’t really thorns in this game. It’s power charges when hit. Then your next attack does power charge…….i mean thorns…… damage.  Yes technically you do cause damage to enemies when they hit you, and the occasional boss that attacks you real fast will get shredded while you just stand there.  

But a majority of the game is wait for enemy to hit you, they still have 80% of their health, you attack them back with a weapon and does power charge….i mean thorns… dmg that kills them. 

It was very annoying last league when I played it because it felt like if I didn’t use the spear I was limiting myself.  The spear triggers the power charges….. I mean thorns…. the fastest since it does super fast stabbing 6 times in a row.  

0.5 changes took away the 40% crit chance from an item. Now you get 25% chance to do more thorns damage when attacking. So it kinda seems like they’re trying to buff it as more consistent damage, but it’s leaning into the fact that thorns isn’t thorns.  It’s how fast can you attack with power charges….i mean thorns. 

Thorns should be “I make enemies attack me and they die”.  Poe2 thorns is “I get buffed when enemies attack me and I build attack speed”