I noticed this as well a couple days ago, and I also initially thought it was terrible. But I kept playing. I've just finished the EA and I've somewhat changed my mind on this.
A few things to point out:
- You get attribute bonuses from equipment. The equipment bonuses are random (except on unique items), but they work similar to Divinity: Original Sin 1, where each slot can only spawn with attributes from a small limited pool of possible attributes (i.e.: +Memory can spawn on helmets, but never on gloves). In practice, this means it's relatively easy to always have the bonuses you want after the initial early parts of the game. For reference, at the end of the EA I was level 7 and had +13 STR from equipment on my warrior, and +6~8 to FIN or INT on my other characters. This frees up attribute points on level-up to be spent elsewhere. I ended up spending about 4~6 points per character on other stats (usually Memory and Constitution), but could probably have spent more.
- I've been keeping track of what bonuses can spawn on what slot, and for the most part, the core attribute bonuses (so STR, FIN and INT) don't seem to overlap. The slots that get you INT, for example, never overlap with the slots than grant you STR (with the exception of your weapon slots). So - at least to some extent - it should be possible to have a functional hybrid build by balancing base stats and equipment bonuses.
- There's also unique items to consider. There's a purple pair of gloves in Act 1, for example, which gives +5 Strength and +2 Finesse. I just use it on my warrior, where the Finesse is wasted, but it would probably work wonders on a hybrid STR/FIN character. Presumably the final game will have many more such items.
- The equipment attribute bonuses scale with level. Up to level 6, you can get up to +2 to a core attribute on a single piece of equipment (barring unique items). At level 9, equipment starts spawning with +4s. Presumably as you get higher levels, the maximum bonus possible continues to increase. This also helps to offset the per-level penalties. It seems like the higher level you go, the easier it becomes to have a functioning hybrid build.
- At rank 6 (the maximum currently possible), the Leadership skill gives the entire party +10% accuracy. That gives some additional wiggle room with STR/FIN/INT investment. For reference, at the moment my Lv7 Rogue has 127% total accuracy, even though his Finesse gives him a -3% penalty.
- Several skills don't actually depend on your core attributes to function. You're definitely going to want to "go hybrid" to some extent for additional support skills. I've been using this to my advantage on every character: my Warrior uses Adrenaline/Fortify/Armor of Frost, my Rogue uses Tactical Retreat/Teleport/Battle Stomp/Armor of Frost, my Ranger uses Adrenaline/Teleport/Fortify/Armor of Frost/Restoration/Healing Ritual and my mage uses Rage/Tactical Retreat. Grenade damage also seems to ignore stats and be based entirely on your level, so you can use those on anyone (i.e. use Teleport + Armor-Piercing grenades on the mage to soften up targets for the warrior).
So putting all of the above together, I'm not terribly worried about this attribute system anymore. It took a while of playing the game to see it, but it does seem to work fine as is. It's just a bit strange at first and has odd quirks that take some getting used to. At very low levels, it seems unnecessarily restrictive, but it appears to even out as you level up. It's still possible there are problems in the long run - depending on how the scaling pans out - but that will only be apparent once the rest of the game is released. For what's available right now, I don't think it's really a problem.
