As an update for those interested.
I'd tested out the concept of creating encounters that were level equivalent.
So 3 players each of level 3 (sum of 9) versus a group of enemies (with level appropriate gear, talents and skills).
The combat was interesting for my players, some monsters obviously died much quicker than others.
The one thing that I had a problem with was when it was the 3 players versus 1 big monster. The one big one was a level 5 to test first. It made it more exciting, but I had to scale down its Strength (in this case) as it was almost 2-shotting the tank. But they managed to beat it.
Shall continue testing to see what and how works the best.
