I see a lot of posts on this forum about struggling in battles and so on, so I thought I'd write up a little intro guide. Not claiming it's the bible to the beginning of the game, but I do think it really helps some players who might be struggling.
It's important to have a character that has decent persuasion/charisma and slight of hand/dexterity for this section. You are free to reclass your character later on, but for at least this section I highly recommend you make a character with both. Having disguise self, feather fall, extended leap, magic hand, and speak to animals spell is also helpful to have.
This guide is going to start just after you wake up on the beach after the nautiloid. I assume on the nautiloid that you saved shadowheart, got the everburn blade, and did enough fighting that you get to lv 2 at or just after you wake up on the beach. Now get Shadowheart. The fights with the brains will be hard, but you can avoid them by climbing up the rock wall. Pick up Astarion, Gale, and Laezel. There should also be a mound of dirt just west to where you get Laezel with a shovel. Be sure to pick that up.
Now proceed to the fight at the grove. Finish the battle, and activate the fast travel point nearby. Be sure to pick up the Gloves of Power from this battle. Besides it's other abilities, these gloves have a +1 to slight of hand that will help with many of the lockpicking and pickpocketing you will do. You can also use the enhanced ability spell 'cat's grace' option to give you advantage on slight of hand checks. Shadowheart will get this spell at lv 3. It will last as long as shadowheart remains in your party and doesn't lose concentration on it so its a very good spell for getting good lock pick and pickpocketing rolls.
Before you go into the grove, first climb up the dirt mound just south of where you fought the battle in front of the grove. At the top on a skeleton will be the silver necklace. This will let any player equipped with it use guidance at will. It is an incredibly useful item and you will use it for your entire playthrough, especially if you don't have/want a cleric etc in your party that can cast it.
Next we will briefly enter the grove. The silver necklace will help with the first persuasion checks just as you enter the gate. Our first goal is the shapeshifter's boon ring. You can find resources online how to get it, but briefly hide your party to the left of the entrance and have your magic hand go over and attack the strange ox over on the right side of the entrance. Let your magic hand be defeated and run over with the caster of mage hand and talk to the ox. It will ask if you want to offer gold, but when you open the menu you will see the ring available on the menu. Be sure to buy this. Combined with guidance from the silver necklace you are adding 2-8 (2d4) to any check. This is extremely helpful.
A quick note on how to use this ring. Use disguise self to activate the ring. Vendors and their prices are affected by the disguise, so either choose one specific disguise all the time or be sure to turn off disguise self when you interact with vendors so you are getting the best prices.
Next go over to Dammon to the left of the entrance. He has the shield of protection that you can pickpocket/buy eventually. Keep your eye out for a handcrossbow +1 for sale in his inventory. You'll want 3-4 of these evenutally. Also keep your eye out for any armor that has the 'Balance' buff. This includes hide armor +1 and hedge wanderer armor. Armor with balance provides a +1 to dexterity/slight of hand checks and will help with pickpocketing/lockpicking.
Also right next to dammon in a crate is a breastplate +1 that we want to steal. This can be a bit complicated with all the lines of site of everyone around. But if you hide and then move the crate it is in just slightly you should be able to take the breastplate. You should do all of this in turn based mode. When you successfully get the breastplate, end turnbased mode and. When you turn off turnbased mode, run immediately south and go in the door.
Inside here climb up the stairs and go to the outside area. Cast feather fall and extended leap on your party. Jump over to the other side of the river and get karlach to join your party. Now head up the cliff north but don't go in the house. There is a fast travel point just to the north side of the house. Activate and now take the path going down south. Just before going under the bridge is a tunnel. Go in the tunnel and make sure you pass the insight checks and disable two traps that block your way. This will give an inspiration to karlach. Now go back to the river under the bridge.
Follow the path right by the river west, and keep a look out for a skeleton. This skeleton will have the Smuggler's ring which is extremely useful as it gives a +2 boost to your slight of hand for lockpicking and other things. You will use this the whole game and it's extremely good. This and the silver necklace are two of my favorite items in the game. However, be sure to unequip this ring if you expect a charisma based check, as it reduces your cha when equipped and will give you 1 less in those rolls.
Continue west until you get under a second bridge, and you should see a small climbable wall. There's another possible inspiration and exp bonus here if you pass a check when investigating the skeletons here. Go up, but ignore anything going on to the east and go straight to the west. Before you proceed anyfurther, consider having Shadowheart or someone with the command spell in your party. You will see a burning building. First activate the warp point. Now complete the quest to save Florrick. It's important you do this without going to camp or otherwise warping away otherwise Florrick will die. I always select the staff as a reward for my spell caster to use with magic missle, but pick your favorite. When you approach florrick from leaving the building, initiate the conversation with Florrick, and then switch to the person who can cast Command use the weapon drop of Fist Deva. Be sure to loot all the bodies here. Once all the fists have left the site, you can pickup the Swartlebee's Woundseeker weapon, a two handed weapon that is good for your party. There is also some decent light armor in the faded drow armor. For a character with high dex this will give you 19AC which is quite good at this point in the game.
If you want you can also go into the other area of the burning building and save a man trapped inside. Do this solo though so your whole party doesn't get hurt by the flames Save him with a DC check, and continue inside in turn based mode until you see a chest in the back. Cast guidance on yourself, and with the smugglers ring / gloves of power/shapeshifters boon/hedge wanderer armor you shouldn't have too many problems opening the chest in the back corner of the burning bedroom. This has the Hamarhraft, a really good weapon that even if it isn't your main weapon is great for breaking walls and doing bludgeoning damage when you need it.
Now within Waukeens Rest go to west area. You should see an entrance with boxes in front of it. Unlock the door and pass the DC persuasion checks inside fairly easily. Go down in until you get the zhentarium hideout fast travel point. Go into the Zhentarium hideout and when you speak to the first people you see, make sure to persuade him to release the artist. this will save you any money you might need to spend to release him and it needs to be done immediately for it to be free. Then you can talk to oscar himself and give him 200 gold to make him go along the quest for him you'll finish much later. Go deeper into the hideout and talk to the woman to activate a quest and get some exp. Continue going all the way into the back of the camp and you'll find a false wall with an entrance into the underdark. pass the lockpick check for the elevator and go down.
Once down, thoroughly check every box here as almost every box has some decent things in it. Stay on the wooden structure though and don't use any ladders to go down. Instead you will see a small area that just goes into nowhere facing south. From here separate from your party and cast feather fall on your party to jump down to the path down below and avoid any of the minotaurs. Shoot the red exploding mushrooms with a bow and let the area settle before proceeding. Go into the myconoid colony and activate the fast travel point. The main goal here is two vendors (again remember to unquip your smugglers ring when buying/selling as this will lower your persuasion and increase the prices of the items a vendor sells, but equip the smugglers ring when you are pickpocketing them of course). These are some of the best vendors to use in the game and I always sell all of my loot to them. This is because both of these vendors come into Act 3, so you are never at risk of losing equipment you accidently sell to them, and they are very close to a fast travel point. I suggest you not talk to Blurg and just pickpocket from him (with gloves of power, smugglers ring, shapeshifter ring, hedge wanderer armor and guidance cast before hand as well as enhance ability to get advantage). Make sure you save first before you pickpocket. First get the psychic spark most importantly. The sunwalkers gift is also good for party members that don't have dark vision, and circlet of blasting is good for a free cast of scorching ray for mages. Other equipment is available as you want. On the way to the other vendor is a deep gnome near the colony leader. Dont interact with the leader yet, but give the deep gnome an antidote potion (you can got one in blighted village a bit later) and you'll get some nice boots for this point in the game that you can also use for something a bit later in the game. The other vendor Derryth Bonecloak also has excellent equipment you should pickpocket most notable the caustic band. She also has potions giant strength for sale that will be available through Act 2, and she also often has hand crossbow +1 for sale. The necklace that gives you a free cast of mass healing word is also very good especially using with whispering promise and hellriders gloves (that you can just a bit later). Remember that vendors equipment will refresh on your long rest and when you level up, so warp back here after you level up to get additional handcrossbows and strength potions if you want them. For now just pickpocket the caustic band and handcrossbow+1. Later you should respec your tav and come here when you are level 1. Give derryth 400 gold to get 100 attitude on her (You can do this on any vendor, not just Derryth). This will dramatically reduce the cost of things she sells as well as increase the price she buys things at. Come here now through fast travel to sell all of the unneeded stuff you find to build up gold quickly. I highly recommend you find her husband as well which is not far away from the colony. Go a bit south and west, and then use a mage hand to give the bag to her husband in turn based mode, and also use it to get the noblestalk. Warp back to the village and give it to her and she will give you the gloves of kushigo which are very good for thrower barbarian build.
You can also go south of the Myconoid Colony as well, but don't go down near the water. Navigate around the east side and there should be a small bridge to get you just outside the Mage's Tower. This can also be done later as well, but it doesn't really involve much fighting. Equip laezel or someone with the hammarhraft weapon, cast the extended jump spell on her, and while in turn based mode leap to the turrets and hit them with your hammer. You will get hit in between turns, but you will destroy it in next round. Continue to do this for all the turrets until they are all gone. Explore the tower (there are guides online for this) and be sure you get the mystra's boots, mystra staff, the glowing ring, and the club of giant strength. Warp back to the colony and speak with Ommeleum to give him the timmask spores tongues of madness. You should be able to access his items for sale as well. He has two very good items: the boots of stormy clamour and a necklace that restores a spell slot once per long rest.
Now warp back to Waukeens rest and then continue to the west. You will run into some Githyanki here. Just make you pass all the conversation checks to avoid any battles. You will get quite a lot of exp for this and there is some decent armor on the dead flaming fist nearby.Warp back now to the blighted village
Warp back to outside the grove, and go west along the mountain face until you come upon a group of people. Let your mind accept the tadpole and now you can do whatever you want with it. Be sure to get the spear shaft from the dead man's body
Now head down towards the lower area where the river is. You'll see a cave. Go inside and do all the events here. Be very careful with the owlbear. Make sure you agree to walk away and then actually walk away. Leave the cave. You should get some inspiration for Karlach for this.
Climb up now on the west side of the river and go north. You will find a stray dog here. Shapeshifter's boon/disguise self and guidance from the silver necklace should make checks a breeze at this point. It's best if you have a character with speak to animals and pass the check to give the dog your scent and tell him to come to camp when he wants.
Now continue west and south up the hill towards the village. Here disguise self as a drow to easily pass the check to get into the blighted village without fighting. Right by the fast travel point is some shelves with an antidote on them that you should pick to give to the deep gnome we met before.
Right by the blighted village warp point is a chest. Now that you have the smugglers ring and the silver necklace it should open pretty easily for the haste helm. A good piece of equipment. This is a good time to get some exp for doing lots of things in the village by saving barcus at the windmill, persuading the ogres to give you the horn to call them, and getting some infernal metal in a chest in the bellows forge area (a door on the ground level of one of the houses right by the fast travel point) Don't go into the well or try to fight the spiders yet. Leave that for later.
At this point you can optionally go get shovel as well (you can find guides online). This requires almost no fighting (just shoot the coffin near the strange mirror and kill one enemy, but don't try and open any of them before you kill the one enemy). Shovel can turn invisible and then attack enemies giving you a surprise round when you attack which will make fighting enemies very easy. Highly recommended when you do eventually need for fighting.
Now go west from the village towards the goblin camp. (You should reach lv4 right around this time) pass the conversation checks so you don't have to do any fighting. When you get into the village now you will find a vendor here. He has some really excellent equipment. Returning pike is really good for karlach if you are doing a throw barbarian build (and we will get to lv 4 very soon when you can take tavern brawler). There's also the gloves of archery for your bow users (especially dual wield hand crossbows, this will add +4 damage total which is quite good at this point in the game). The Swiresy Boots and Boots of Aid and Comfort are also highly recommended and useful for most of the game after this. Head slightly east in the goblin camp to activate the warp point and then head north inside the building door entrance.
Once inside first pass the DC check to get in without fighting. then go to the east side of the main area. You can free the man being tortured, do the loviatar's love challenge, and the free Volo from his cage. All of these are either slight of hand or persuasion checks and should be pretty easy with the silver necklace and smugglers ring with your high dex/cha. They should give you some exp too. At this point Volo will be back at camp. Eventually you will want to pick pocket him for the whispering promise ring. This is a great piece of equipment.
Now cross over on to the west side of the main area. Speak with Roah Moonglow. Be sure to buy the bow of alertness. This gives a +1 to initiative that is very useful. The bow itself isn't very strong but it's an excellent stat stick for a character that doesn't really use bows for damage (such as a thrower build). Look at her inventory and if you are using a dual wield hand crossbow build keep an eye out if any vendors are selling handcrossbow +1. They are fairly common but random.
Now you can either lockpick the door just to the north of her, or jump across the area of the broken wall to the north of the door to get inside. Lockpick the door on the west wall of this room and go inside. You will have to pass a pretty high DC check but with your high cha, guidance and other things it should be doable to avoid fighting. On the very west small bedroom area, make sure to pick up the misty step necklace in the small chest when the ogre is not looking. Now go south and unlock the puzzle here (lots or resources online on how to clear this), and continue down into the underdark.
In the underdark open the very high DC lock just near where you arrive and get the armor and helmet here. I usually give this to karlach as its free and good defense for her, but give it to whomever you prefer. Activate the fast travel point here. Now go up on top of the gate and let the laser things kill the minotaur. You can be clever as well and put in turn based mode, and let someone from your party do the final killing blow with an arrow etc to get the experience from the minotaur dying. Shoot the glowing stone on the statue and open the gate. Outside of the selunite outpost, you can loot the small battle field for equipment but besure not to venture too far. Just go south of the outpost and you will find the Phalar Aluve here. Pull it out of the stone and it's yours to keep. A very good weapon that's useful the entire game.
And that's it! Now you can warp back to the emerald grove and play the game from there. You will be at lv 4 and have quite a few pieces of equipment that should make the game easier in and out of battle. Notably, Withers should now be in your camp. I would highly recommend respecing every party member in your camp (you can pickpocket the money you pay for respec so it costs no gold in the end). This is also a good time to take your Tav at level 1 and give 400 gold to Derryth vendor in the myconoid colony and any other vendors to max out their attitude. Only do this on vendors you will use a lot though (and preferably just Derryth and sell all of your unneeded stuff to her). You want to make sure everyone has even numbered stats (unless you plan to take a feat with that party member at lv 4 that will boost that stat +1 to make it even). I always take 16 dex on every character and 16-17 on your attack modifier. Then take 10 wis and dump the rest into con. You can dump str and int on classes that don't use those as their damage modifier.
Optionally before you go into the grove you can warp first to blighted village and go south to see Auntie Ethel. Keep going south until have to pass a DC check to change the environment to what it really is. head left though to a small island where youll fight some mud mephits. If you have cloud of daggers spell and lots of range attacks you can just stay right at the entrance and let the enemies come to you. It should be pretty easy. Dig into the large stump in the middle and get the letter about Kahga. Use a high strength/extended leap spell to get at least one character to leap over the far side of this island to the mainland and then walk a bit to the left along the path until you activate the fast travel point. Now you can confront Kahga immediately about the dark druids and get the hellrider gloves right when you enter the grove from Zevlor which is nice to have.