Just finished this game. And... definitely one of the BEST games in my opinion!
I played on "deadly" difficulty, but it was not really deadly. I like to explore everything on the map and I don't mind killing some enemies in the process. And it was enough to steamroll mobs later in the game.
I am not completely sure how to get stats, because I finished at lvl 40 and my ATK is 277 but MAG only 74.
I guess if you use magic you will gain MAG and since I almost never used attacking magic it turned out like this.
Best skills are Spiker (to remove GP), Woodpecker (insane physical damage, it says C+, but I tested it around lvl 30 and with my stats back then this skill deals ~4000 dmg and only costs 20 AS! For comparison Hanged Man says dmg S, but it costs 30 AS + requires another skill to Launch enemy and ONLY deals ~3000 dmg), Trickster (buff Evade and Crit) and Blessing (buff DEF and RES + restore GP).
I tried to max HP and use Equip that gives regen HP, passive skill gives 5% and Dead's Man Orb gives 10% each, so if you use 3 Orbs it's 30% + 5% from passive skill. Sadly there is a HP limit which is 9999 and later on you will gain passive skill that heals you everytime you attack with physical dmg, so while it's still pretty OP, but not as much as I hoped.
Like this Orb with HP regen 10% is lowlvl and therefore almost doesn't gives stats only HP regen.
And endgame Orbs are insane, like one gives +40 AGI, if you take it x3, than it's +120 AGI...
But I guess Titan's Orb + Magic Orb + Orb of Power is more balanced option. It gives very nice buff to ATK + both DEF and RES.
Anyway Soul Eater is sort of strong, but nothing special. With my 9999 HP (after Incarnate buff) I survived his attacks without much problem.
Bonus route ending is way better, than "true" ending.