1st of all, thanks for the reply! Plenty of useful tips that I'll pay in mind in my next battle.

In addition, my problems which are outside of combat are usually unexpected results which leave me no choice but to reload.

Walking into an ambush, stepping on a trap, clicking on something which raise the earth to the skies... I'd like to know how to expect those traps sooner, how to prepare myself from the upcoming ambush, etc, without having to reload and try again based on my previous save.

If I had a chance against those ambushes, then I don't mind just keep going, but since I'm so outnumbered at the very beginning, what other choice do I have but to reload?