Grimo those are nearly all good points. Very much agree with the notion that everyone is mean, dark, rude, unhelpful, ungrateful, etc. It sets a pretty crappy tone for what could otherwise be a lot of fun interactions. Especially companions.
The combat difficulty is not tuned yet and it's deliberately hard. I ended up cruising through most battles, but the hard ones I'd party wipe first before figuring out a trick or another. I deliberately didn't abuse surfaces because after playing 160 hours of DOS2 I was tired of that. They really need to limit/remove surfaces. No DM would do what they've done.
The "attack the caster" targeting of low armor backline folks forces you to place them strategically and, once you have the spells, cast mirror image, blur, or one of the other AC raising spells. If you're a caster in cloth armor and no AC buffs you're dead. This becomes much less of a problem after level 2. What's interesting about this is how you'll also do this to the enemy parties, target and destroy the casters before they can nuke you.
If you're struggling with heals without a cleric, note that once you're well into level 2 or so you'll have found enough healing potions that you won't need to abuse the (completely against the spirit of D&D) eating food to heal mechanic. There are also magic items, scrolls, and combat abilities that can heal. I think the thing that's broken here is eating food to heal, not a lack of heals. 5e rules seem to deliberately deemphasize caster healing in favor of buffs.
The loot is ridiculously broken. Searching crate after crate after crate and finding 99% garbage for that 1% very special and amazing magic item that was randomly left out in the open... makes no sense.
I really hope Larian addresses your feedback and similar posts I've read.
