No-No. There are just some ... boundaries of lvl. For some reason. And the Conquest becomes more hard after these boundaries... At 20 or a bit erlier.
I have just tried it. At 23 and with Isaac as one of the crew. It's really hard, You are right. And it's not because Isaac in the crew (he was doing great of his role, more than i expected :).
But keep try the Conquest. It will be possible back.
Also, take a look at what Apo says: There may be some ... controversy between our words or in our approaches, but the sense is only one: "try not to get discouraged!"
For example.
I just spend 160+ training points to remove one of the skills. // Thanks to Kreegan for help with this decision.
And get nothing instead. And i'm happy. Why?
Because i know what exactly i will try to build and why i will try it.
So, this is not a game to do something tomorrow. But the game, were You able planning for months.
So, "try not to get discouraged" yet. It's just today.
// And read, please, what exactly Apo says. There are some usefull hints about "How to use skills tree" and "How to develop skills".