It depends if you listen to Lae'zel or not... If you listen to her and hurry you can easily reach that zone at level 3 or 4.
That's one genuine design problem with this encounter: it's not just that it's "too hard" (honestly in a way or another I already beat it consistently across three different playthroughs, so it can be done).
It's that a caustic combination of "very tough fight" + "misleading the player through a companion dialogue into thinking it's a good idea to get there as soon as possible" + "making very hard to back off and leave on your legs once the event is triggered" (once Lae'Zel rushes ahead to meet the patrol you aren't left with many options but follow her or pick up her dead body shortly after).
There's a lot of wrong with it and I can guarantee you that if some of us are just "struggling a bit" with it, a lot of more casual players and or game journalists are going to get an ulcer over it.
