I wasn't minmaxing anything and most of the game on normal does feel easy.
I was able to nail even encounters with three skulls that are supposed to wipe you out - it wasn't my intention to win them but I just had to try and… Won. Then I tried some more, won again. But I had to carefully micromanage the party in those encounters.
Can't complain much, random trashmobs are supposed to be trash and encounters for sweating over do exist (those that outlevel you). The actual problem is bosses not different from random trashmob groups. No challenge.
Seems to me that the problem is lack of priestlike trashmobs on the enemy side. Not even once I saw enemies reviving during the encounter. Meanwhile Xoti in my party does the trick whenever I need it.
Ah well… Never cared much about difficulty in games that are not the same for everyone but have nightmare modes and similar who's is bigger idiocies.
Chanter was nice to have in previous game, but in Eternity2 feels kinda obsolete - everyone can summon anything, everyone can buff/debuff/heal. Maybe useful only if you'll equip "cursed" equipment that is lowering your health over time or drops stats, but with so many "noncursed" equipment available, I don't see why would anyone take chanter in Eternity2.
Default AI in my case (normal difficulty) works great except in cases where I was trying trashmobs that outlevel me and are marked with 2-3 skulls. In those encounters I had to micromanage things myself - default AI will never summon anything, will never drink any pots nor use drugs or something.
Anyway, another thought. Once you level up enough to start exploring anything and everything inside or outside of questlines you'll notice puzzles puzzles everywhere.
Yes, please!