I edited the title. 
Thanks for the tips, I suppose I do need to take more time with the game itself. Although do you think I'll find myself less reloading by doing so?
More than likely.  I thought the combat in this game was very challenging at first.  After I actually read a bit and figured out a few things, I now find it almost laughably easy.  Some of the stuff 
 is harder but I killed 
the Phase Spider Matriarch
 on the first try.  That's much more challenging than a horde of goblins but it just took a little thinking to make it not easy, but very doable.  This is not a Diablo style hack and slash game.  A little bit of thought goes a long way towards winning.