Adding to what others have already said (and I apologise if this has been mentioned already and I missed it), it's not just the order of encounters or your party build that can make things easier, but also how you approach encounters. Often the game gives you a bit of a hint that you may want to look around and try something other than charging in headlong, such as at the encounter at the grove gates when you hear shouting and your companions are likely to urge caution.
It is possible to win that fight by just running up to the gates, but easier if you start from the high ground overlooking them. Similarly, in the Blighted Village it's easier to beat the ambushing goblins if you find a way to climb up and turn the ambush on them (or indeed talk your way out of an attack altogether which is easier if you're a drow ... or appear to be one). Look around for terrain that gives tactical advantage such as high ground or choke points, consider splitting your party and positioning them carefully if you think a fight is likely, try drawing your enemy onto ground that suits you better, try to sneak in and get the first shot in (though this can backfire in certain situations) and look for things around you that you can use such as firewine barrels. Larian are very good, in my opinion, at setting up fun tactical encounters and there'll often be a number of ways you can use the environment to your advantage. There's an impressive array of approaches you can take to, for example, dealing with the goblin camp and some of them are much easier to pull off with a lower level party than others.
In terms of order, there are a few battles in the first area with higher level foes who can do considerable damage to a lower level party if you end up fighting them (you don't always need to), so you may want to avoid, eg, the tea house, toll house, githyanki patrol and a group of gnolls beseiging a cave until you're at least level 4 and possibly level 5, unless you are careful with your tactics.
And as others have said, don't worry about the learning curve! If you persevere you'll get there, and the things that make combat a bit overwhelming to start with are what makes it fun once you've got the hang of the basics
