Forrest Ninja,
I was discouraged too. But I found I could fight on the beaches by going toward the group and then running back, luring the nasties one by one and killing them. (Like you, I'm a sword person.) The importance of having a strong creature (I call mine "Puppy") shouldn't be overlooked, he's a big help! Lure a nasty out of the group then run away and let your Creature have at him, run in now and then to get some shots in. I leveled up a lot just clearing the beaches.
You won't get far with the dragon until you knock out the force fields. And to do that you need to do some fairly heavy fighting in the cave, but using the same technique, I managed it.
I am a terrible flyer! But getting better. The 1st time I had to fly in a game was in Avatar and I hated it. Then I bought this and loved the game, so learning to fly the dragon is worth it.
