I played on normal and found batting stance to be IMMENSELY useful. If its buffed, it should probably be nightmare specific, since it would end up being completely broken for lower difficulties.
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I think tying the upgrades to obols would make perfect sense since that would mean you'd have to make some pretty big sacrifices in the early-mid game to upgrade Alicia. Adding just a tad more upgrade paths in general would go a long way, like speccing Alicia as a counter-tank and maybe something for Miriam to focus more on her basic skills.