I've also found the Soul charge-up attacks to be fairly lackluster. They hit pretty hard IF you can hit with it, but it doesn't feel like it would be more than if your character has just been auto-attacking in that timeframe. I'm having a hard time actually gauging their effectiveness.

Aside from that, what's everyone doing for their equipment? I'm trying to work my way towards the purple gear but it takes a while. Do you save up for those or just max upgrade whatever you have on hand anyway?