I still don't agree with this at all. Many of the dragon fights (especially electric) are more difficult than the Haven fight. All you have to do is stop turning the trebuchet every time you see 1-2 dots on the minimap and have an ice staff or two with at least one character with Winter's Chill and possibly Ice Mine. If it's your second playthrough, even on Nightmare there's no excuse to not be prepared. Plus, if you grabbed the potion upgrade by that point, there's 12 more sitting right there in the supply box for later.
Inventory is defnitely not worth spending points on early, if at all. Potions (+4), +1 potion slots, the perk that gives you a 10% chance for more herbs when harvesting, Advanced and Master Focus are more important than pretty much anything else. The Deft Hands perk mostly unlocks garbage by the time you have enough points to actually make use of them. There are a few useful items, such as amulets of power and a purple critical chance or damage ring, but not much else early on.
. I waited on the potion upgrade until after the dialogue upgrades which was a mistake - you don't even get the chance to use a specialized dialogue option until much later in the game. It's only worth picking up early for the XP increase on codexes (which I admit is worth it, but potions are still more useful). And I use trash inventory as a way of building my wallet, so the inventory perks are definitely still worth getting early, imo. I hate juggling inventory myself, so anything that makes it easier is worth investing in early for me. Focus is not worth getting until
