Hmm, I never experienced this problem so I am not sure what was different in my play throughs. I think I was higher level, I think, after clearing all of the western part of the first act. If you go out of the western gate you have quite a few encounters with skeletons. Just behind the archologist and on your way to the light house. You also have more encounters towards the burial mounds.
After that you should be able to go up north. I think level 5 is enough to go up north. When you reach level 6, even 5, you can go to the black cove at the beech. That will give you at least one or two levels.
After black cove I would go to the east.
All that said, just take it slow and feel your way forward. If you can't beat an encounter the first time, take some time to think about what you can do different and try different tactics. There is no shame in failing a bunch of times and will just make you tactically better in fights.