Fortunately, when players died, they would only lose EXP and not levels. They wouldn't drop to below level 60.
As for the dropping of equipment, their teammates would be able to pick it up anyway, so there were no losses.
The Pit Commander's HP was whittled down at a rapid rate, but this wasn't because of the Paladins or Lu Li. The main DPS were the Undead Mages, Darnassian Archers, Troll Hunters and other NPC characters. Lu Li's objective was to clear the last remaining 20% HP on the monsters, or to get the last hit.
If it were possible, Lu Li would want to stop the NPCs from fighting at the last second. Unfortunately, the System didn't allow this to happen.
Otherwise, Hachi Chan would become the most broken and bugged player in the whole of Dawn. She would ask the NPC to attack until the last hit, then take over. If she wanted to take it step further, she would team up with Remnant Dream and let her loot the items.
