Help with respec and barb build

Hi all, just wondering if there was any way to respec without jumping up in difficulty?

I've been playing d2 on normal and online with a buddy (both our first playthroughs, not using any guides) and after a gruelling experience in act 4, both being level 26 and 27, I decided I should probably follow a build online. I want to do a whirlwind build. 

I've already used the first respec in act 1 not knowing it's a one time use per difficulty and have completely butchered my barbarian in terms of skills, mainly chucking a whole bunch into bash, stamina, axe and polearm. I don't want to go up in difficulty because I feel like we'd just get absolutely steam rolled.

I feel like I'm way too far in to restart again, so, if its not possible to respec, what are good areas to farm on normal difficulty? I want to level up before starting acting 5 since we both were getting one shot during the diablo fight and I feel like I can somewhat start to get the whirlwind build going.

Also, what items should I be looking out for as a barb? We only came to the realisation last night (after defeating diablo) that we can only upgrade white/grey items. My barb has a few blue items equipped with literally nothing being crafted from the cube, having no socketed items, whatsoever. I think I've literally only ever found one socket item throughout my whole playthrough, so in turn, I'm feeling very underpowered at some points. I'm stocked up on a few runes and gems already but don't really know what to do with what.

Thank you 🩷