/shurg Can't say I've found it this way, but I'm pretty used both to DnD mechanics generally, and Larian's approach to encounter design in specific. (I've so far had exactly one combat game over, because I was dumb and let Ragzlin get into the rafters and chuck javelins at me for like 20 damage a pop.)

Positioning matters, your environment is something to be used to your advantage, abilities that boost your accuracy are very powerful, and different enemies have different strengths and weaknesses. /shurg Hard to give much specific advice, because different encounters and party compositions demand different tactics and threat assessment.

You’re playing it wrong.

BG3 is a role playing game. You gotta play it like real life. In real life, if things don’t go your way, you drink strong alcohol. I highly recommend tequila or whisky.

Charisma too low? Tequila. Dexterity too low? Whisky. Enemy with 1HP dodges 3 attacks in a row? Tequila.

The game is easy as pie.

I think we should just deal with the consequences. Make a plan, go for it, and deal with whatever happens. The only time you reload is when you die. Or when something REALLY bad happens.

Save scumming kinda spoils the fun and removes a lot of the tension.

I haven’t found it that way. I’m generally D&D has a lot of “save or suck” abilities. Generally this applies to spells where either you make your saving throw and nothing happens, or you fail and something catastrophic happens. It feels very swingy - one turn you’re ahead, the next turn your barbarian is paralyzed and your wizard is blinded.

It also applies to attacks and other abilities, though. Try to stack buffs that give you bonuses to attack roles and saves. Bardic inspiration, guidance, enlarge/reduce, etc. help to minimize the suck for you and maximize the suck for them.

Good luck!

This guy just did a whole combat video. I learn some great info here.
Beginners guide to combat

I'm not really a "party rpg" player, and "tactics" is a foreign word to me, so I have just downgraded to the Explorer difficulty after wasting a couple of hours on the defend the grove quest.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot of things but the RNG does sometimes feel quite annoying. When I lucked out on enemies positioning themselves near explody barrels the pesky spiders crit-hit me to death, other times the suicide bombers just ran past the barrels or were to spread out to get them all.

Maybe I'll turn it back up later, or in a second playthrough, but for now I'm having more fun with the easier option. And I would recommend that to everyone who feels frustrated. The game is definitely worth it, even if it's not my usual cup of tea

Are you immediately running into battles or are you taking the time to examine the environment and enemies before initiating battles? Obviously it's not always possible, but I usually spend a few minutes to plan some things before starting a fight.

I look at the environment to see if there are any items I can use to my advantage (barrels, chasms, etc.) or any optimal places to position my people (e.g., up high and out of sight for my rogue).

I also examine the enemies before hand to look at their strengths and weaknesses, and I change out my prepared spells accordingly.

In a game with dice rolls, it's inevitable that some things will come down to luck. But I do think there's still a lot of "tactical" planning to be had both during the battles but even before the fight starts as well.

I’m on Act II in balanced difficulty and haven’t suffered a total party wipe yet. I also don’t use any of the cheese bombs, arrows or poisons but I have no issue with those being an option in the game.

If you’re not using Bless or gaining advantage in combat you’ll have a harder time.

That certainly hasn't been my experience, though perhaps my rolls have been more fortuitous. I've been finding the combat challenging, but not overly unforgiving. I do sometimes have to try an engagement more than once to try out different strategies, but most of the time I don't have to do that. I do have a fair amount of experience with this type of game though, and that makes a big difference.

I haven't experienced that on balanced difficulty; what party members are you using?

Some general considerations:

—Some optional fights are very challenging when first encountered, you can skip them and come back later.

—The Sword Coast is absolutely swimming in consumables. Drink those potions, read those scrolls, and shoot those magic arrows; your enemies certainly will.

—Someone should probably always be concentrating on Bless. If you aren't a cleric, I hope you like Shadowheart!

—The story wants you to rush, but don't trust it; take a long rest between large fights, even if it seems silly. You need those spell slots.

—Focus on taking small enemies out of the fight before concentrating on the large ones.

—Enemy archers (and mages that use attack roll spells) can't shoot you very well if your melee characters are threatening them.

—Bringing more than one "squishy" party member (like Gale) makes the game a lot harder. Make sure anyone who can learn Shield knows (and prepares!) it.

Hmm I don't agree.. I felt like that before I completely understood how combat works but now I actually wish there were more "random" encounters because I'm really enjoying combat: when you manage to master the combat system and the tactics involved the game really shines. What I suggest is this: if you fail a fight don't just do whatever you did the first time: approach it from a different perspective, analyze the battlefield and your strengths/weaknesses, and those of your enemy. Also, being rested and having all the tools of your characters at your disposal is extremely important for the more challenging encounters. Also, advantage is very important for a lot of classes: my avatar is a rogue and this made me appreciate how important the concept of advantage is: without it a rogue can't use sneak attacks and this taught me how to exploit the concept is. This is also why I love characters like Karlach (barbarian) and that attack that gives you advantage.