I think I am not grasping how different characters require/benefit from different equipment… All of my people end up looking the same - hulked out armor & inevitably, some sort of two-handed hammer.
I have a shaman/occultist - wouldn’t she benefit more from just say, a sacrificial dagger & a grimoire or Groble effigy? But then I see “-232 DPS” and I go “okay, I am missing something”.
Help please!
The DPS shown is related to ability bound to left mouse button, by default it’s a normal attack. If you’re a caster then it’s safe to ignore and just go for items that give +% to your damage type, pretty much it ends up being a dagger+offhand combo.
ah okay, that makes sense. Thank you very much. 
Early on it’s a good idea to equip the heaviest armors you can find, but after a while (around late normal or epic) armor becomes secondary to things like resistances, lifesteal/healing and other damage reduction effects (including from skills).
By this point, unless your character actually benefits from stacking a lot of armor its usually best to invest in bonuses that complement your skills (like +%Vitality Damage if you use Sigil of Consumption, to increase the amount of healing you get).
I’m at level 40 on 2 characters, a Blademaster & a Conjurer, both first time going thru… currently working on various quests in The Blood Grove area.
Playing my Conjurer(shaman/occultist) today I took Stupid Dragon’s advice & went with a dagger+effigy combo and I’m doing just as well if not better than when I was focused/distracted(?) on the DSP figure. thumbs up