It was more balanced. PvP in 1.09 required more skill to actually be good, rather than teleporting and spamming 'Teeth' with your faggot Necro or Teleporting on top of someone and casting Blessed Hammer.

While both are counterable, 1.09 was more balanced for melee vs. casters. The only time it got unbalanced was when the bugged items appeared.

Also, due to the lack of synergies, character builds were more versatile, meaning the duels were a lot different.

In short, it takes away power from you, forcing you to become better at using your characters to achieve victory.