A welcome change in my opinion. Having played through the biome both solo and duo im happy to see spawn rates reduced a bit. The initial landing is fine as a challenge, but after that it gets very tedious and boring after a while.
There's only so many skeletons you want to parry before you're fed up with the play loop. Hopefully this will make engaging the biome a bit more interesting and better paced.
I defeated Fader for the first time last night. I definitely found Ashland's taxing because I was always being mobbed. In the end I was able to explore long distances by carrying a portal with me and making a makeshift FOB in the entry way of putrid holes. I'm glad I beat it before the nerf, but I'll enjoy exploring Ashland's much more now.