To be honest, I never used the original variant of the RSS. I got it for my Vana gear, but soon it faded into the depths of my Inventory. I never found a scenario where I can use it well without dropping it for my other weapon.
I never liked the pattern of the design. I mean, yes it uses skill, but it becomes tedious and boring. I mean, The Cutter and Catalizer lines were challenging, yet were fun to use effectivley. The RSS never had that for me. Even it's two uses, faraway targets and a Fiend killer, was replaced by party members and the Spike Shower.
And before you ask, this happened slowly over a 4 month period.......
Infact, I hated it in general.
When the change was announced, and eventually implemented, I was apathic.
I first tried it in ATH. Again, apathic.
Then I went into a Wrench Warfare to tryout it in a scenario in T1 with a Dark Matter and RSS. I found them actually fun.
Though it took some time to get used to it, I find them use ful. The knockdown is useful.
I have no views of LD as I don't play it.
Though, my opinion might change as I come back to this after summer's end.
The old RSS is a bomber's only option vs greavers, and turrets on spikes/in unreachable locations. Now bombers have no choice but to pack another weapon type, discarding the bonus they can get from armors and trinkets they invested in.
The fuse is way too long and radius way too small to hit anything reliably. And you have to count on luck to hit one target with two shards.