The statue is a joke. It's the same one that blasts off at the start when you open the firts dungeon in Aleroth.
Yeah, the second part of the game is a letdown in many ways. And most players consider the divine skills useless. I certainly did.
Josephine is the one that gives most players early gray hair
A fighter can take her out easily with the special move and invisibility. For some reason, you don't go visible when doing the special move. So if you walk in on her invis, get close, do the sweep (be careful not to target her), and keep it up, she's toast. A frsot weapon is especially good here.
Aside from that, I found L5 Hellspikes to be pretty good against her.
Nightowl2
P.S. I don't recall "joining" anything outside of potions.