hey,

i've created a barbarian, leveled him to 55 with high dex, then it failed. rerolled trying str only, worked better. now i am stuck at 61 though, every other monster is unkillable for me, resulting in ~20 kills per hour. been checking the market for a while, but still no level55 battleaxe there. is my build wrong? or is it just the items? or should i try to find a group for catacombs? never been there.

Don't go for heavy weapons. Get an axe or sword with some enhanced effect and you'll do a lot better.

I'd suggest reading some of the guides stickied in the main LS forum

doesn't make sense.. isn't heavy = same dps?

Yes, the average of Heavy weapons and basic weapons are the same. Heavy weapons are even better, because the defense of the Monster being hit is only substracted every other second instead once each second. This makes heavies a bit stronger, especially on higher lvls.
BUT you get less proficiency (1/2 compared to basics).

In addition, heavy weapons with enhanced effect are much more expensive than basic weapons with the same amount. If you have an Axe with lets say 70% ee, then you will be able to kill much faster than with a heavy weapon with about 20% ee.

In addition, i would try a chain or plate with much ee to keep you alive. I would stat str only and get pure dex-gear. Dex is cheaper on items than str, so you should be able to get a better total combined score of str + dex.

If you have problems or further questions, drop me a pm