I think DD is generally considered to be better than BD, though of course individual opinions vary. There are some aspects I liked better in BD, and some things I liked better in DD.
There is no BF or random quests in DD, but there is more of an open world, with lots of places to explore. I don't know if there is a huge difference in total size between games, but DD feels more open and immersive, with access to most of the gameworld from the start.
There is a single character in DD and the skill system is different, but the music, writing, quests, etc are similar. There are a few quests where you can choose the solution, but not as much as in BD. Stealing is much better in DD, as NPCs will react if they see you, and their opinion drops accordingly; some NPCs are very touchy about their stuff, and react badly even if you just move something, or try to get into a back room.
DD can have a few challenging parts, especially at the beginning. It tends to get easier as it progresses, though. There are exploits and effective skills in both games to make fights easier, but overall I'd say DD has more options for dealing with difficult parts, and if things start to get too easy you can always choose a handicap or increase the difficulty setting (I bought and saved charms, but by the time I had equipment good enough to use them on, I didn't need the extra bonus). I re-loaded too much to make sure I got the best equipment, though, so the relative ease of the end game was partly my fault.


I'm not sure where you are in BD, but can you approach with just your melee character, and then lead the mages back to your archer (set to aggressive)? They should spread out a bit running after your hero and be low on stamina by the time they get in range of your DK (making them easier to hit, with less of an offense).

It couldn't hurt to upgrade a summoning doll. You could try just summoning them all, though; even at their starting levels, a brief distraction could allow your main characters time to take out one or two of the mages before they start hitting you.

I upgraded the skeleton so he could use a crossbow, and tried to keep him out of melee combat. You can always save and try upgrading the other doll, to see how well he does. I used the other 2 dolls as temporary distractions for the final fight, but don't recall if one did significantly better than the other (without being upgraded).