I generally don't think the balance is too bad (at least not to the point where only exploits can win). The only "larian mechanic" that I really felt like I needed to use is the high ground advantage and backstab - mainly because even if you don't use it, the enemy will still do it.
There was another thread on the forums discussing the Gith Patrol fight, where someone claimed the fight was nigh impossible without all sorts of exploits (which was contrary to my experience). I ended up recording a couple of videos with a pretty sub-optimized, no-exploit party just to see if it was really the case (since I believed that fight was far from impossible).
That same unoptimized, derpy team basically 100%ed the game and every encounter the same way.
In my experience, outside of some insanely bad initiative RNG, every fight is pretty winnable, especially when you start getting more and more magical items.
For context, when I say no exploit for the Gith Fight, I did use backstab and high ground, but not the following:
No pre-position (running the chained party right in)
No pre-buffing (outside of Aid, which is an always cast because it lasts forever)
No usage of psionic powers
No 1-time consumables (i.e. haste potion, wyvern poison)
No munching of food mid-fight
Very limited magical items (Sword of Justice and a headband on a Gale who already had 18 INT)
Edited: I just realize this post might sound a bit like a "git gud" post, and that really isn't my intention. It's just that I think it's just important to distinguish that the current difficulty isn't impossible and cheese-only. I'd be happy to see a wide range of difficulty added to the game, I just hope Larian doesn't tone it down for the harder ones.
Because if you don't use it, the ennemy will still do it ? Or because GWM would suck without it ?
Ennemies are really bad at exploiting those mechanics. They just rush highround without anything in mind and if they sometimes try to backstab, it's not really common. If they are running behind, you'll always have an AOO with advantage. You're AOO safe because you're explotiing a bug, saving in the same time your bonus action to take as much healing potions as necessary...
Honnestly backstab and highground are the most usual OP mechanics in the game... and you have to exploit them to succeed. This is the minimum requirement and if a strategy game with tons of spells, features and so-called "choices" turns arround 2 mechanics, I call this a bad balance.
If they fix the AOO exploit, it's done for newcomers and the difficulty will increase a lot - even for us that have played for hours. And I hope they'll fix it because this is just non sense.
