Gyrm isn't even that much of a puzzle, not if you've done some exploring and found all the clues that literally tells you about using a "Hot hammer" against it... Literally I was surprised that anyone even tried to fight it normally instead of smashing it with the giant hammer in the middle of the arena.
As far as the Tax Collector goes... The first time I fought her, I did get sniped because of gold. But since I carry all my gold on 1 mule character who has high STR to carry all my crap, that one character died and the rest of my party beat her up (And I read in the combat log that gold is what super powered her). First time around I killed her skulls which removed her armour. Second time around I went for the achievement where you kill her without killing the skulls first.
Never did I have to metagame to role-play characters.
The point of these types of combat? To get people to explore and read stuff. Many things are written about in notes or can be divined from Speaking with the Dead or Animals. Informing you of what's coming up and alluding to how to prepare for it.
