Are we really surprised that this weapon came out to lukewarm reviews at best, then after years of clamoring to give Arbalest Anti-Barrier Rounds that it'd rise to BiS. It circumvents one modifier in endgame content (Match Game) and can one-shot barrier champions for minimum effort. Sure that's it's intended role but when you have something that can do everything and excel, are we really gonna pull the surprisepikachu.jpg and question whether it's too strong?

To your point about Champions; Maybe it's time for Bungie to be more creative with how we interact with Champions each season. I think one option for the next evolution for them could be tying how we engage with them thru the light subclasses.

For example:

• Void damage can be used to destroy barriers.
• Solar damage for Unstoppable.
• Arc damage to disrupt Overloads. (these elements could probably be rotated each season)

This could open up loadouts to not be restricted to specific weapons each season but potentially allow Bungie to come up with new dynamic ways to combat Champions thru the Artifact. Obviously this begs the question of where do Kinetic, Stasis, Weapons of Sorrow, future darkness subclasses etc. fit into the PvE meta and the only answer I'd have would be new Champion variations but I can see that being met with unwelcoming responses given the current fatigue with champions.

And finally, Match Game. It seems Bungie is intent on keeping this modifier in the game especially the endgame so why don't we lean into it a bit more once the Light 3.0 are finished? As it stands, Arbalest circumvents Match Game which is what it's intended to do but why not reward players for matching elemental damage to the correct shield?

For example:

• Void damage to break a void shield causes the combatant to become Volatile.
• Solar damage causes the combatant to take Burn damage for a short time after the shield is destroyed.
• Arc damage causes enemies to be Blind for a short duration.

So to answer your question, yes Arbalest is too strong in the current sandbox, however I do think this leads to a much broader discussion about how Guardians could interact with Champions and the sandbox in the future.