All mages, and some rangers; are broken.
So yeah, that's probably why the game feels as a cakewalk now. Not sure where people get the 'it's so difficult!' from...
And that's coming from someone without OP Lone Wolf, who hasn't even learned any new skills bar a few for my mage from scrolls I randomly found (no buying from merchants). Status effects are really powerful, and a single mage can keep an entire enemy group stunlocked with ease.

And I agree it's very nice not to have questmarkers or similar stupidity. Very... refreshing.