I'm just saying that I think a tweak to barrier would have a more drastic effect on the lethality of transmuters than a tweak to transmuter skills. That's based on the two lethal transmuters I've seen, which are Ginharq and the other one whose name I forget, but who killed Baendra a couple of times (or would have had Lariya not finished me off first).

Being able to soak up damage gives you a lot more options.

As far as Hammond goes, all his fights were great. You could have picked any to watch. (Just joking. I was Hammond.) Actually two of my three deaths involved me doing something wrong, although in one case I was dying no matter what, since rp forced me to fight.