I didn't avoid using any skill points, I was just very stingy with them. I eventually maxed Repair and Identify (5 points each), put only a couple points into damage and accuracy for weapon specialties (just boosting Reload Time for the bow/crossbow skills; used bow early, then switched to a crossbow for the greater damage). Both characters put 2 points into the individual healing spell.
I also conserved skill points because I wasn't sure if I was going to switch to different weapons, I was thinking about eventually trying traps (but never got around to it), etc.
Even without a publisher, resources will put constraints on development, and of course some things just don't work out as well in practice as anticipated, so changing or redesigning too much can cause problems, especially if everything only comes together near the end of the process.
