Alright, spent some more time with the BETA and I'm now leaning towards a day 1 purchase despite my criticisms. I love games with a dark, moody atmosphere and Diablo games in general scratch a certain itch that other games can't. A couple of questions I'm hoping vets can answer:
1. I'm playing as a Sorc, bought a new staff for a few thousand gold. I find a rare bow drop that amongst other things poisons enemies and I can equip it since Sorc starts with high Dex. I'm now running around doing waaay more DMG with my bow than with my spells, this seems bizarre to me. So, spell DMG only increases by spending skill points on that specific spell or find rings/amulets with buffs? Putting points into energy doesn't increase it as it would in other games but putting points into STR/DEX *does* for those respective weapons? I just find it weird that my Sorc is now more effective as an archer than a spellcaster, what am I missing? Especially since I can still cast spells with the bow equipped.
2. Do spells/abilities gain new properties/change visually as you put skill points into them? Will my fireball look exactly the same and behave the same way at level 1 vs level 20 with the only difference being increased DMG?
I appreciate any insight