I agree with your mentality of "leveling off the dips" of the roller coaster that is Ret; precisely why I suggested the lowering of CDs, which would do just that. By reducing the height of the peaks, but commensurately increasing their frequency, we see a rise in sustained damage levels without the burden of "balance issues" caused by those high peaks. Total damage stays roughly equal, but you get more options to hit those "fun buttons" and less YouTube all-star videos of stupidly large numbers that set classes back. This way, even if you DO choose to pop them all together, the net cap of %increase is lower than it is currently, overall reducing burst.