Oh yeah you 100% do miss out on loot. I'm doing this in my "Only one party member allowed" playthrough, and it's basically a necessity for killing most bosses if you only have one character at your disposal lol.
I've been running "Ledgemancer". Seriously, you can shove so many things. And the things you can't shove can still be displaced by the illithid powers. Plus Larian are such fans of verticality theres always a ledge close by.