So they nerfed it again…
and if your party has no Druid, nor Bard...no faerie fire for your group.
Also note, Bard get's a limited amount of spells, taking this situational spell as one of the three 1st level spells known ( odds of not choosing a 2nd level spell occuring) would be rare
Or light Domain Cleric
If you always have high level spell slots available to you, then that is indicative of not being challenged.
Faerie Fire provides advantage to all combat rolls for the entire party. This is far too powerful for a first level spell, and very imbalancing. Why should an attacker get advantage simply because the defender is glowing? It shouldn't make the hit significantly easier.
I don't know what you call "functionally superior", but —What are you referring to? AFAIK they haven't changed a thing about it, and it's functionally superior to earlier edition versions of the spell.