Obsolete chars? (just started playing again)

[Zarbo]

Hello,
I've just started playing again after a 3 year break (I still logged in though to keep my chars from expiring ). Here are the 2 main characters I played (keep in mind they were created before synergies were put in):

1. Barbarian (lvl 82), build: just a standard whirlwind barb using axes
Axe Mastery - 20
Whirlwind - 20
Iron Skin - 5
Natural Res. - 5
Others in prereqs and battle orders
Unspent - 27
Weapon: Hellslayer (is terrible due to WW reliant on weapon speed now :( )
Armor: Some set item with 798 def or so
Damage (max): 3759 with WW

2. Assassin (lvl 75), build: lightning trapper, with a little fire for a 2nd element
Lightning Sentry - 20
Death Sentry - 20
Wake of Inferno - 5
Weapon Block - 3
Burst of Speed - 2
Shadow Warrior - 1
Others in prereqs
Unspent - 25
Weapon: Some rare with +to traps, don't melee much
Armor: Natalya's Shadow
Damage (max): 2344 with lightning sentry

Would you consider any of the above builds to be still viable in Hell?
The problem is that I seem to have trouble in hell difficulty (even soloing). Are these characters worth keeping?

Keep in mind that I was very poor and hardly had anything of trade value. Right now, I have started a lightning sorc (untwinked) who is approaching lvl 40.

[Evrae Altana]

1. The barb can be salvageable. Stick those unspent points in Battle Orders and Shout.
2. For the assassin, max out the rest of the synergies for Light Sentry to boost your damage.

What are the stats like for your chars?

[Zarbo]

1. The barb can be salvageable. Stick those unspent points in Battle Orders and Shout.
2. For the assassin, max out the rest of the synergies for Light Sentry to boost your damage.

What are the stats like for your chars?

The barb has 189 str/125 dex/100 vit/10 energy (base)
The assassin has 149 str/118 dex/80 vit/30 energy

Both have around 70 pts unspent, in case I find stuff I need more str/dex for.
I think I should just dump them all into vit since I die too easily in Hell, but are there any items of note that may require more str/dex?

[Evrae Altana]

In that case, I would just remake both chars since they have way too much str and too little vit. The key is to be stingy as possible with str and dex, and dump everything into vita.

[Zarbo]

Yeah I pretty much figured that would be the case with too little vit. The str/dex values are the minimum reqs for the gear that I use (mainly the reqs for the weapon).

I'll probably ditch the barb, he has a very hard time hitting anything in Hell and relies on too much life/mana leech which I see is not as effective as it once was.

The assassin actually has a decent chance of killing anything non-lightning immune in Hell, although ranged attackers give it trouble (damn those Quill Rats in Act 5!) It doesn't help that my resistances are way negative with both chars :(

[windwingwind]

Ur barb should be savable, I suppose....give him a better weapon and dump all ur unspent points into vita, max BO and shout, stockpile ~20% life leech then he should be alite. Key is a weapon hitting the last ww bp and do good dmg. Give him botd champion axe if u can afford. Between, as I see u already invested quite much into dex why not think about switching him into a one-hander? with a shield u dont need as much vita as 2-handers and it's easier to get the last bp.

[jiansonz]

If the barbarian has trouble hitting, put a couple of points (1 point gives too short duration) in Battle Cry and use that in as good as every fight. You hit more often, and they hit less hard. Awesome skill.