I've been wondering what was wrong with BD, and I think you've more or less summed it up -- there's really little diversity as far as what your character can do. In DD, I played through like 4 or 5 times, with different builds each time -- a backstab specialist, a ranger, a big heavy sword guy and a mage, once I got enough equipment to transfer to make starting as a mage effective at all. There were also more levels to play with, making you all around more robust.
Now, with two characters splitting the meager XP, you really stay lousy. Your stats are low, because you've had to split them into constitution and speed just to stay alive, so you can equip most of the equipment you find, if you focus on strength OR dex -- not both. Skill points are stingy, and utility skills (passives, the world crushingly huge Sharpen and Pickpocket skills, the money factory Convert Arrow skills) are required, meaning you just don't have a lot of money for FUN skills, like spells.
Money hasn't been a problem for me so far, and there's always exploitation to make sure you have enough -- get a few levels in Convert arrows to a costly type, like Splintering, and go nuts -- even an 8% return on your 1 gp/arrow investment nets you 150/arrow -- that's 1200 for every 100 you spend on arrows. But even being covered in the best equipment money can buy doesn't buy off the fact that my characters can't *DO* anything. They click on monsters and make them die. Sometimes, one of them switches to a bow while the other tanks. Then the clicking continues. It'd be like Diablo, but even warrior types in Diablo could *DO* something in combat to make it fun.
DD had combat skills that were fun, like throwing spears, poisoning weapons, elemental arrows, etc. etc. etc. BD has none of those things, meaning that if you go combat (which you'll have to, since mana is scarce), you're playing "Click the interesting looking monster: The game." By 13th level (where I am now, in act 2), characters should at least get a feel for what they'll be able to do. I've had that since level 1 -- click monsters.
I think I'll probably hang onto my save game, and wait for some serious balance tweaks... but how this game got this far without a comparison to DD is beyond me.
