Ok I’ve pretty much quit Diablo 3, but I’m going to list what I think this season is doing.
Followers can now wear Sage’s so you get more DBs.
Wizards have a build that their mirror images are like followers who mimic their laser beam ability
Necromancers have a new Rathma build that doesn’t use pets and uses a single target nuke exactly like the Medieval carnival build.
how far off am I? 
It’s a start. Now you just need to add twenty-five more paragraphs of changes.
Do players above 50 Paragon still need that many DBs? I’m sitting on nearly 70k without even trying, but only 35k of veiled crystals, etc. I wish I could trade DBs for other crafting materials like Bounty materials!
For the people playing seasons it’s an incredible boon. It allows you to get up and running much quicker. Yes it would be convenient to trade DBs for other materials.
Mirror images don’t cast channel-like abilities, and that includes disintegrate (laser beam). But there are firebird builds that make use of mirror images.