I’ve expressed my opinion here as well: Duty and Honor nerf is misguided, but the fundamental issue is that Havoc is extremely unbalanced compared to Uprising through Auric.
As a result, whenever balance adjustments are made based on one standard, the other inevitably becomes problematic. This is exactly what you mentioned, nerfing Gold Toughness makes Havoc nearly unplayable.
From the Uprising–Auric perspective, Gold Toughness is clearly overpowered, allowing the entire team to be almost invincible for extended periods, which causes the difficulty to fluctuate drastically. The same applies to Havoc, where without Gold Toughness or Bubble, survival is nearly impossible. Moreover, the Havoc system itself severely restricts viable builds and weapon choices, while also limiting player freedom of action.
That’s why, as I have repeatedly stated, Darktide’s balance system needs a fundamental overhaul. I believe the proper approach is to first adjust the game for Uprising through Auric, and then rebuild Havoc around that foundation. Of course, Havoc will likely remain highly unbalanced during this process, but that is unavoidable.
Ultimately, the root cause is that Fatshark created Havoc without addressing these overwhelmingly overpowered elements in the first place.