Just an FYI, the Bandit Leaders weren’t removed, but they were nerfed. Grab Erii or Kisthis from the Volcano. They’d love to give you a hand. After you beat them about the head for a while.
I also posted some tips/suggestions over in the “players helping” section of the forums, just based off my personal experience of soloing through it.
Direct link to the post below, but it does have some spoilers.