Granted, I put it on hard difficulty, but I feel like I'm doing something wrong. I have to really cheese the undead fights just outside the gates in the first city (example: character dies, quick load, sneak and handle the biggest threat first). But even cheering there's fights I absolutely have no chance of winning (like the area with six or seven undead boars plus a few skeletons... gtfo). Do I just need more levels? Or am I ignoring something big like scrolls and consumables?
The game only gives you a small hint at what direction to go.
Well, that and looking at the npcs level. (loremaster skill gives you even more info)
Basically, when you are ready to leave the gated city. (try to do as much as possible, and hit level 3.)
Head west first. NOT the west beach, but the west gate, into the fields. It should be raining. The lighthouse is the "boss area". There is hidden area/way into town, this way too, that also has a miniboss.
After WEST, you should head north, from the west. Level 4, and eventually level 5 undead. If you go north out of the city, you walk right into level 5 undead. and level 6 north, and to the east.
After northwest, THEN west beach, for level 6 orcs.
You can of course do any of this in any order. But yeah. doing those level 6 orcs, a level 2 or 3 is going to be real tough. Or due north as you did for the zombie boars.
And just an fyi, the spider summon is really strong for tanking orcs/boars/etc.
High hp, high ac, resist/immune to poison.