1. +1 to your point about the spear. i didn't realize it didn't work on spiders as I haven't equipped it on anyone.
2. I thought this was a bug at first and made another thread about it: https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=794576#Post794576
The fact that they changed it to implement the stupid surfaces is so annoying.
3. I haven't played with this enough to have an opinion. However, I would caution you in using third party sources for stats just as a rhetorical device.
4. The entire idea of the hotbar is a fundamentally flawed way to handle the UI. The hotbar should be limited to consumable items and maybe class features such as action surge, second wind, arcane recover, blessing of the trickster, etc. They really should design a proper spellcasting interface and more focused attack interface similar to the one found in Solasta.
5. I very much agree about the story change further incentivizing the good path over the evil one. Larian complains that most of the players pick the good path but then makes the story so one sided that only a psychopath would actually chose the evil path if they were roleplaying and not just choosing it to see where it leads. And based on others complaints, it leads to a very stupid place indeed.