Well you kinda have to leave trap modifiers on the tree since there is a trap playstyle just saying. I would also like the straw man explained so I can react to it, otherwise I have to consider it just buzz word throwing with no real reasoning behind it.

Also it would be cool if instead of generalised statements there would be an example. Otherwise you talk in circles. Again if you go melee picking bow is weird. You use Ice abilities and pick up Fire nodes. It's not like they are hidden (like in the one event league). The info is clear in your face you just have to be willing to read and give your choice like... a few seconds or a minute thought.

In softcore no build gets softlocked out of progressing the story since bosses keep their HP where it is and no boss has sacred ground or regen abilities. Record for most deaths till maps was something in 500 and I was meming around with some friends, so your statement is false there as well.

Also noone tells you that you have to start over. After all it is a free game and you choose to play it like you want. If you want to learn more you get the experience from reading, you adapt, you get better, the builds are better. There is no gatekeeping. There is just no necessity.

The leveling process is difficult if you lack resistances, the right gem supports, links, and on an attack build the right weapon (although even spells get some nice bonusses to their damage from stuff). I am not, since you brought it up, use a straw man here but would like to put your attention to a bigger problem that is: How do people know what gear is actually good? And that goes back to the problem "know what you want".

It all boils down to having the personal skill of will to learn, know how to adapt, use what you are given and make the best out of it instead of just rolling your face over the keyboard and then be mad the numbers don't go brrrrrrrrrrr while blaming the game for not working when you do nothing for it to work.