I think what IMC tried is to make Lycanthropy a short-lived bonus skill/buff skill instead of creating the same scenario as they did with e.g. Quarrel Shooter, where everything revolves around getting C3 for Running Shot while the rest of the skills are situational at best.
You still have a ton of other skills and the Henge Stone changes support this theory, going from basically a transformation support skill to a all-around support skill.
Druid also gained 2 more skills to utilize for C1 and C2 on top of a boost on Chortasmata and Carnivory.
Analyzing the changes, it is very apparent that IMC tries to shift away the focus from transformation to the new vegetation-focus.
By the way, the Lycan changes were actually aimed at physical builds like e.g. Inquisitor/Zealot that benefit by the short duration of the skill since they can use the lycan form to cover the time their skills are on CD (great for God Smash/Fanatic Illusion/Immolation that have medium-high CD times), offering a build alternative as hybrid Clerics.
I agree,though, that they could have changed the lycan 1 form buffs to be added via an attribute that shortens the duration but gives e.g. more Block penetration/Aspd/AoE attack ratio/etc to the skill.
At the same time,though, there’s the demi wolf for people who don’t want filler transformation but rather a stable boost. Given the uptime/downtime ratio without Melstis, it is still viable.
Look at Zealots Fanaticism buff e.g., it has less boost potential and the same CD/uptime ratio, while Lycanthropy’s Demi-wolf from is also providing extra crit, base HP% recovery (Fanaticism trades off your recovery for damage boost!!!) and the ability to dash.
Not every buff needs 100% uptime to be good, and this buff is still good even with only 25% or 50% uptime.
It also encourages the transformation-loving people to utilize other transformations, not only the werewolf.
