Well, I've practised a bit more with the combat, and I've decided I can cope with it enough to actually buy the game. I just need to use the pause key all the time.
I've discovered what the problem was, for me:
In Divine Divinity, I was used to holding down the control key and clicking ANYWHERE on the screen to attack the nearest enemy. I have verified that it works differently in Beyond Divinity: You have to be more careful where you click. If, while holding down the control key you click the opposite side of you from where your nearest enemy is, you walk to that spot rather than attacking the closest enemy.
I'll just have to unlearn some of the things I learnt while playing Divine Divinity.
As I said, the biggest thing is: I must use the pause key all the time (which is a little disappointing, since I find that overuse of the pause key tends to ruin the atmosphere, since it focusses you on the game interface rather than the unfolding storyline).
Anyway, I'm going to get the game when it comes out.
Strange! CTRL works 100% of time for me, wherever I click. I can scroll away from combat but if I press CTRL and click anywhere, my character will STILL attack the closest enemy. Also I have no trouble clicking on the enemy so I don't even use control. And I only used pause a couple of times...
Maybe it depends on the resolution, His_Divine_Shadow?