Instead of rushing for Mental Alacrity I think it might be better to level up Arcane Will instead. This All damage bonus is huge. And then CT / IEE accordingly. I leveled CT to 50 or so on Vet but I don’t remember what I did and lost my notes.
I think I ran 8 CT main node right out of the gate and it was manageable. I don’t disagree with OP’s feedback though and I agree with the suggestions. I couldn’t put more points into it because then I one-shot enemies and didn’t leech energy. Veteran instead of Normal was needed for the same reason.
Also I found maxing PB totally valid and the skill is more energy efficient (dmg/energy cost) the more points you put into it [1.1.9.1] Beginner's Vitality Reaper - #46 by tqFan I leveled 2 times this way. Without “Of Insight” even which so far I’ve always found till Krieg in my leveling journeys (between 1-3 pieces) without any additional farming.