Something you might want to keep in mind is spirit is not a useless stat.
yes, working it in is a pain. yes, it lowers your dps and total health.
That said, when you make a character consider this: if you dont have enough damage output to outright kill someone, the next obvious choice would be to gear for survivability and regeneration to be able to outlast and keep healing until your opponent runs out of mana or someone comes to your aid.
if you do have burst, memorize how much damage your full combo does vs average cloth, leather, and mail wearers so when your opponent hits that target number, you know NOW is the time to go for the throat.
gl.