It's interesting to note how varied the the responses to BG3's combat have been; some people are immensely frustrated by it and others are claiming that it is too easy. I wonder if this is an inescapable result of merging turn based tactical gaming mechanics into an RPG experience.
Example: I'll run into an encounter that just seems ridiculous - my team gets stunned/charmed/taken out before I can do anything meaningful, or the number of mobs is too high, my miss rates hysterically poor, not enough spells, etc. - and I have to tediously save scum my way through it. Then, later, I will see someone recount the same encounter rolling their eyes about how easy it is because before the fight they just positioned this guy here, that guy there and placed 5 barrels of explosive powder over there and of course they "had the right build".
Now, if I'm approaching this from my RPG perspective, I'm not going to have a meta party composition; I'm going to have a party of characters and class builds that interest me from a story and character development perspective. I'm not going to research fights beforehand; I'm going to explore and react to the unknown as it happens. I'm not going to being carrying around 5 barrels of explosives because if I need to treat encumbrance as a concern, then my group isn't going to be carting around a warehouse's worth of miscellaneous junk at all times.
Long post ahead
Sometimes it's also dumb luck. I've had encounters that are hysterically easy because the enemy had that one special attack that made them a considerable foe, and that special thing... Never got into play.
Sometimes build can matter a lot, especially early. For example: Ethel. Her one "thing" is the clones that have equal attack damage. Enter stage left, a character with magic missile. Worse, *two* characters with magic missile! Fight completely trivialised by a level 1 spell, no cheese!
There's encounters where no AoE means suffering. Encounters where no single burst target damage means suffering. Encounters where losing initiative means suffering. Etc. You're going to hit roadblocks and become a better player for it.
I'm generally satisfied with the difficulty curve. But, I'm trying to teach someone the game now who's doing chemo and isn't a gamer. Just as a bit of enrichment. Well, let me tell you. Eyesight can be quite troublesome in some encounters. She still sometimes clicks on the floor with spells instead of an enemy. I have trouble teaching her positioning -- it just doesn't stick. She's not used to thinking in terms of combat, nevermind strategic combat.
I've tried to limit the party to the same 4 people and no more. I try to explain a lot in simpler terms, like... "Astarion is a rogue, we made him a thief, which means..." doesn't work, so I say "Astarion is our archer and he's really good at hiding".
We've hit a bit of a rough patch currently because she wants to do more things on her own... but keeps running into encounters that are a bit too difficult. She needs a *bit* of help, but not too much. A guide would be annoying. No tips currently means she won't figure out the "trick" to harder fights on her own. It's certainly difficult to hit a sweet spot for everyone.
