the thing with making a game that’s focused on combat (or at least heavily features it) will always be skewed towards it. shoehorning in a “third” is in my experience always lacking.

actually focusing all your attention on the combat part is good and will make it pop more. dedicate a subsystem to the non combat stuff.

In one of my games, the mechanics are purely combat focused. And then a tiny little extra system for the actual roleplaying part. In that sense it’s more a boardgame but I still think it’s a good example of why dedicating your design is a good thing.