Nice to see a new player joining the game. Two questions for you that could help me give you more detailed answers:
#1: How much time are you considering sinking into the game, and what do you want to get out of it? If you just want to spend a shorter amount of time, playing through the game once or twice, it's valuable to follow a guide, since the game is so complex. However, if you enjoy what you've played so far and are willing to invest more into it, the path to understanding the game's mechanics and creating your own builds is its own reward.
#2: How much effort do you want to put in trading items and currencies with other players? Path of Exile has no auction house or anything of that sort, so trading takes effort and is a game in itself, in some ways. But the variety of possible items is huge, and different builds require different items, so being willing and capable of trading can get you the gear you need.
A short primer on orbs:
Common: Wisdom, Portal, Transmutation, Augmentation, Alteration, Jeweller, Chromatic, Armourer's, Blacksmith's, Chance
These you can use without really missing them - but the impact of using them usually isn't that dramatic.
Uncommon: Alchemy, Fusing, Chaos, Blessed, Regal, Scouring, Regret, Gemcutter's, Cartographer's, Vaal
These are useful as trading currencies, especially for a starting player. The gear you can get by using them to purchase gear from others is usually far better than the gear you can roll by using them. The most common barter currency is the Chaos Orb.
Rare: Divine, Exalted, Eternal (Super Duper Rare: Mirror of Kalandra)
Don't use these until you really know what you're doing. Double check their value with someone competent and trustworthy before trading them for something else.
my char seems to miss almost every second hit.
Is your attack animation hitting a target, but not doing damage, or are you attacking and not actually connecting with a target?
If it's the former, you might need more accuracy. More Dexterity gives you a little bit of accuracy, but there's also % accuracy passive nodes, and +accuracy can roll on helmets, rings, gloves, and amulets.
Unless you have a plan, no. Leave yourself the freedom to use whatever you want. Specific builds use specific weapon types, but you're not doing that, so you're fine generalizing
I kind of disagree, to be honest. Some of the more specific nodes, like 1h, or 2h, or even the weapon-specific nodes are stronger than the generic nodes, and skipping them hurts. Taking them might push you towards using a certain class of weapon, but with a little effort you can find upgrades by trading or using vendor recipes.
Like others have said in the thread, everyone's first character hits a wall at one point, so you might as well try to focus on something with your first character. If and when you start another character, you go forwards with the knowledge, items, and currencies gained during the first character's play.
Also, I suggest finding a guild to join, primarily for two major benefits. The first of these benefits is having others to talk with about the game while playing. The other major benefit is access to a guild stash, where other guild members leave gear they don't need for others to use. Having access to such gear can help accelerate your progress through the game. Not all guilds have the same amount of active players, or a comparable stash of gear, naturally.
