Conf: I apologize for the poor explanation. It is only the last (fourth) stage of degradation that takes the boost cylinder our of the AFCS servo package (perhaps more like "direct law) while the previous three work you to something more like varoius ALT laws, with SAS off being closer to Alt 2 or Alt 2 B in terms of flight control sensitivity.
Again, a very difficult to make comparison, but the issue with " you have to fly more manually" and "it will feel very different" is the issue at hand, not precisely the detail of which system has run amok.
I admit that I was being a bit apples to oranges.
