DoL is absolutely about how much time you can put into it, the more competitive the server the more time you need to put in, I spent minimum 4 lockouts a day in Diadem for season 3 so 12 hours a day for 10 days(some days I did 5 lockouts while others I'd go to 13-14hours only 1 day did I do only 12 and I was sick but if I didn't do that 12 hours I wouldn't have gotten top 12), I made top 12, happy I did, never want to do again.

Botting was prevalent then as it is now, it is possible to outdo them as they tend to be inefficient on how much they are gathering (sometimes getting stuck in the holy bot tree) but the amount of time needed is very high, and I was one of the more healthy people I actually slept and eat food properly, hate how I knew some were barely getting 4 hours of sleep a day.