I know this will fall on the deaf ears/blind eyes of those that could make this happen, but here it is anyway:
Change the bottom UI from this:
To something similar to this:
Obviously no solid gray color behind the buttons, but extend the stony swirly art behind them. Make the stat/skill buttons gray out when no stats/skill points available, just like the original UI.
Keep the current layout for resolutions where this “stretched” UI won’t fit.
Why? It’s annoying when in a battle, I level up, the buttons pop up right where I need to click, such as a monsters face. 
There have been a couple of times that it got me killed. The quest one has always been an annoyance, but after 24 years of playing you learn to live with it.
I put the quest button where the skill button was, so it didn’t shift over. I’d be open for getting the quest button merged as well… Maybe put it between the selected skills? 