I never found weapons to be that difficulty to compare but I also didn't worry too much about min maxing. I generally just focused on pure damage, with other bonuses being an extra - unless it's Spellcaster in which case boosting stats and skill I need is a priority.
Yes, hotbar was a goddam mess, and that's why I was so worried that Larian will leave it in its original form in BG3. It was already a massive pain in the butt in D:OS2. The "good news" is that you are near the point where skill gain will stop - there will be still some to acquire early into chapter 2 but after that the progression will throttle to a near stop.
i generally found couple skill combos that I can loop and that pretty much will be enough for the entire game as armor system erases most differences between enemies.
It also took BG3 for me to power through D:OS2 but on my initial play through I managed to go a bit further then you did.
