waveman

I too am missing the sword fragments (Blade of Endless Path) on two playthroughs now, not a big issue for me as I never use the sword.

I struggled with a rogue on PoTD, as she died in the first few seconds of every combat (dual wielding, using a 'cautious build type') , almost gave up on the entire class, but then decided to go with a build using medium armour (the golden breast plate found in the Endless paths) a axe (Hearth Hatchet) and a small shield, cautious attack and weapon and shield etc and she has around 80 deflection (at level 5), does reasonable damage and more importantly stays alive to contribute to the group.

on PoTD deflection is everything, front line combatants need all the deflection they can get, otherwise they just don't last.

certainly possible with Aloth, add a con boosting (I put a +3 con belt) and a a dex boost item (ring of thorns), and make sure he has a cold spell to cast and a pry bar, grab the man first and then the woman (nabbing the ring off her first)

I suggest leavening it till around level 13, especially on PoTD. I am currently going through on PoTD with a full team, all at level 13 and some of the fights left only my Paladin protagonist alive. It is a very challenging area.

I used to rely heavily on the Obsidian Lamp for support during most battles, and acquired it as soon as possible, but now the duration has been reduced I have found them very limited.

here is a list of all the figurines, sorry there are 7 (not 6 like I posted above) http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Figurine

all the summoning items have been made a hell of a lot less powerful now (whether via the 2.03 patch or with March of Winter), the creatures are now only summoned for extremely short periods of time (20 seconds as far as I can tell), so now you need all of them (there are around 6 of them spread through out the game) and you have to stagger your summoning to actually be helpful in large battles.

while I used liked all of the passives found (second skin, scale breaker etc) I rarely, if ever used any of the Watcher abilities.