I've been very vocal in this thread but I did really start with asking how people are getting through the fights. I'd love to know what you did for the goblin gate fight, if you found that challenging? Also how did you find the Gnoll camp or the true soul goblins.
I do really think I'm missing something here.
If you're a drow, you can just talk your way in: "Welcome your Drown-ness!"
That said, I do find combat is too hard early on, every encounter could go either way for me. I did the fight on top of the chapel maybe 10 times and only won cleanly twice, having to resort to popping in and out of line of sight, then fighting in the doorway to finally beat the encounter. During some encounters, my squishies died before they could even move, which is not great gameplay. My F8 button is getting plenty of use, but at least the loading screens look nice.