Spirit Link was creating too many technical issues, such as:
- Tech wise it was causing many bugs, for example there is no way for us to let you refresh it on the current target who has spirit link (which is what spurred the duration/cooldown)
- Allowing linked targets to break out of CC when you shared damage was too powerful, and the gimmicks we put on it were confusing and bad design
- Allowing you to put it on a tank was too powerful, so we had to address that too. Which was a downer.
In an upcoming build we're replacing Spirit Link with a new talent. It will be an instant cast beefy heal over time called Riptide on a short cooldown. It also has a cool side effect of when you Chain Heal that target it will consume the HoT, and increase the healing done by that Chain Heal.