...Furthermore, since Willpower is hard to come by early game, I already need to spend some of those precious stat points on that, leaving me with very few for my combat-related stats...
My last two playthroughs were an experiment to see just how much I could neglect my stats.
Melee Tech Specialist (Attack Drone):
Just raising Intelligence was enough. Charge Weapon made Physique and the weapon I was actually using more or less irrelevant for most of the game. Once I got the Custom Shock Gear (from Shizuya at level 9, had to rely on Gravidic Disruptor), I hardly had to use Paralyzing Shock, Charge Weapon, or even Deflector Regen.
Ranged Smuggler:
Kept Aim and Intelligence maxed. Queen Taivra's Tease attacks were difficult if the fight went on too long, but I was ultimately able to beat her with the Shock Bow and Concussive Shot.
As long as you don't let your Libido get out of control, you should be able to resist the Venus Pitchers with low Willpower. Additionally, the Elder Venus Pitchers (the fixed location ones) only appear after you've encountered one of the Young, so the lower Jungle is 'safe' until then.
Conclusion: It isn't actually necessary to max Willpower. That said, I make a point of keeping Libido low. Keep some Focus Pills on hand.
Mercenaries have Iron Will, which rewards you for raising Physique, but their best build is Ranged. This does put them in a bit of an awkward spot.
Smugglers have Escape Artist which allows them to use Reflexes instead of Physique for escaping Grapples, so they have less need for Physique (unless going Melee). For that matter, Aimed Shot/Sneak Attack run off of Intelligence and Level, so I may not have needed to max Aim, really. On the other hand, Aim increases Flash Grenade's effectiveness. Either way, Willpower was left untouched.
You should be able to afford to hire Ramis after the first Probe. Second at the latest. It costs 12K if you didn't beat her at Arm-Wrestling. 10K if you did. You get 10K from the first Probe + 1200 from Dane.
Picking up the ZK Rifle from retrieving 'Crazy' Carl's Machina and a Vanae Spear are a good way to save some money. I do recommend the Decent JoyCo Shield Generator from V-Ko, though.
Don't put your Affinity in a stat you're going to max out via Level points. You start with it one higher, but it wastes the bonus to Slow Stat Gain.
Alternatively, you could use Transformatives to raise stats other than Intelligence to free up points. Laquine Ears can raise both Aim and Reflexes (to 25 at level 10), for example, are easily save-scummed, and produce no Taint.
I'd recommend minimizing training with Ramis and at the Ten Ton Gym until you have a suit of Augment-Weave from the Cyberpunks on Zheng Shi, because it doubles Soreness recovery, making training faster. Without Augment-Weave 2 Exercises -> Sleep leaves you with 1 Soreness. With Augment-Weave, you can go 2 Exercises -> BBQ Pit (for Energy) -> 1 Exercise -> Sleep and have no soreness gain.
...but it can take well over 20 real-world minutes to max out Intelligence if you try to evenly distribute points through to level 10.
If you want to evenly distribute points, I think you're better off waiting a few levels, then Working Out/Running/Swimming Laps until you near max, then use your level up points. Slow Stat Gains give diminishing returns, but level up points are always 1-1.
Remember that weapons only get 1/2 stat value as bonus damage.
