I think most of what's causing the current difficulty is that DnD's armor system (AC ratings) doesn't really gel well with Larians unavoidable ground-effects. Low level dnd characters survive by virtue of not getting hit a lot. For fighters this means wearing a lot of armor and putting points in constitution, for mages it means staying out of harms way, and blasting away anything that comes close. Unavoidable damage that ignores AC ratings is therefor a bit painful.
Very good point. I felt something is off but couldn't put my finger on it.