I've been having some trouble going through hell with my cleaver, just wondering what's been working for others. So far I'm just walking through the acts but keep getting suddenly killed by random elite mobs, currently in a3 mazes.
I'm on ladder, but have just been ssf up to this point. My gear and stash isn't that great, but it is what it is.
Looking for really budget options tbh, not exactly loaded here.

Gear:
Lore helm for the +1 and light res
Authority armor because it's new and cool
Sander's boots
Death's belt and gloves (for ias and cbf)
Ancient's Pledge shield
Obedience mancatcher
2x nagelrings
20@ ammy

I also have various trash charms to get my resists up a little more, sitting at max fire/poison, 70light 41cold

your gear is trash (to be blunt) and not a good melee setup.

cleave would benefit from these attributes :
.crushing blow
deadly strike
life/mana steal
open wounds (not as important , just one piece with it will do)

you have 195 fg, get some cheap gear that is fit for melee.

gface helm
stormshield
mania (new hustle ) armor
gore rider boots
string of ears belt or thundergods

stuff like that . you are geared for normal baal, its not going to cut it in hell if you want to kill faster as melee

Thanks for the pointers, I did get into a4 and it's actually going much smoother than a3.
I'll definitely try the new hustle armor, thanks for the heads-up on that one (I think it's called Hysteria now).
String of Ears is on the shopping list for sure, but I also might just farm for it since the chase is really the fun part of the game for me.

Geared for normal Baal though? That's a pretty big exaggeration lmao