Quote - My dumb question of the day: can't you either set the reflection not to go over a certain number (ie max it so it doesn't get hot) or maybe use a bias/gain node (can never remember which one does what) to serve as sort of an ad hoc "map" and use that map to subtract out or limit the extra light?

I didn't show all the situations. That was one that was easy to see. There are "hotspots" that should not exist that also are not super bright, either.

As soon as you put enough limits to suppress most of the hot spots, you've pretty well lost the realism of the cases where it is supposed to be bright.

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Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)