So I'm still hanging in there with that hardcore elite berserker I've been talking about. It's gotten very difficult to survive. I had to grind the Crow's Pass several times before I felt ready for the Frozen Hills. There's just too many things in that area that cast horrendous burst damage spells. I definitely need higher resistances, but I'm not going to find gear upgrades without pressing on.
One thing that has helped was realizing that execute doesn't depend on having the exact same type of weapon equipped in each hand. I was using a fist weapon and a hammer at one point. It's opened up so many possibilities for matching up good enchantments. My execute chance is currently at 44%. Every execute fills my charge bar by about 1/3. When my charge bar is full, I do all critical hits for 7 seconds. Every critical hit heals me for 5% of my health, another of my passives does bonus aoe damage on every crit, and one of my weapons gives +50% crit damage. It's ridiculous. I tear through hordes like paper. It's just those spells that near one-shot me that give me any trouble.
Also... what the hell kind of protagonist sees a helpless victim wrapped up in a web, obviously trying to free themselves, and thinks "Hey let's turn this poor sucker into an explosion of gore and see if they're carrying anything useful. No one will ever know!!!"