So I mistakingly thought the grove with the tiefling-goblin war was the main quest, because that's what the game kept talking about.
And I didn't see any way to continue the game outside of doing it, especially since the way North to do Wyll's quest to get Kalrath was blocked off by a broken bridge. I eventually learned I could jump it, but I honestly didn't think platforming was an option given that the game didn't seem to have platforming elements.
I got stuck in the Goblin Camp on a really tough fight, as due to the game pointing me in that direction I went there without gearing up or leveling my guys, so I was only level four.
Honestly the fights were fine except for the one against Dror Hazlin, who kept killing my guys in one hit and refusing to take damage no matter what I did.
I tried attacking him from the rafters, but he was only half-way down on his health by the time he had my guys cornered and proceeded to kill them all by knocking them off the rafters.
I eventually turned down the difficulty, but found the fight unsatsifying. So I reloaded and eventually figured I could shove Dror Ragzlin down a bit and miss out on his worm.
I chose that, because the shame of using Explorer Difficult was just too great.
So, you might be wondering "What's the problem? I found a solution"
Well I was talking to the Steam Message boards about it and they were overly toxic, accusing me of a being a troll, telling me how easy the fight was, giving non-answers like "Use Explosive Barrles" (I don't have any) or "Hire some ogres!" (There are none around)
and when I explained why their solutions were unviable I was told I was a ragebaiter.
I just kept getting told how easy the fight was and how I'm a terrible person for asking for help.
Eventually the forum post was deleted due to how out of hand it got.
It left me in too sour a mood, because I figured, what if they're right? What if I'm not gamer enough to properly enjoy Baldur's Gate 3.
So now I ask on Lemmy, should I continue, or uninstall in shame?
I really do like the game, I don't agree with every mechanic and I dislike how limited resoruces are, but I love the world and the story and would really like to see it through to the end.
If you think I should continue, then please, I ask any advice I can get for how to optimize enjoyment. Thank you.
That's what happened to me on my first playthrough hahaha. I ended up restarting from nothing and blowing through what I already knew. Same choices but made sure I was getting all the free equipment I could when I did it the second time through.
Let me mention something else here based on your experience with people telling you to use barrels. Barrelmancy is fun but it is absolutely not required to beat the game, even as a new player.