yeah I know these ideas get passed around a lot, my apologies if this has been suggested.
maybe as a buff, we could have it so that the outward expansion of the miniature shards does damage
so in this scenario, the bomb explodes, and enemies caught in the path of immediate expansion would be damaged maybe up to 2-3 times. sorta how like the old shards worked, but less 'gun like'. and of course the outward shards would still explode n' stuff.
Was thinking perhaps 50-60 damage a hit, hoping that wouldn't be obsolete/overpowered D8