Recently, I started my second campaign in Baldurs Gate in addition to the campaign I play with my wife in co-op. My wife and I opted for the easiest difficulty in our playthrough since neither if us ever played similar game.
This time I felt like it would be such a breeze since I already know a bit more about the game and DnD in general. I opted for the balanced mode with my new character and started going through Act I and boy oh boy do I get wrecked almost everywhere. Multiple of my characters already died and I had to revive them.
Characters
Including Gale, which in turn triggered cool mini-quest to revive him, but the magic aura around his dead body killed Astarion multiple times.
I feel very scared going into each combat and trying to plan as much in advance as possible (keep in mind I mostly know what awaits me there, because I've gone through Act I already).
Where I got wrecked
I got wrecked at the church before you get to Whithers, I got wrecked by the hyenas and gnolls by the caravan road, I got absolutly wrecked by the Paladins of Tar and
I just don't know what am I doing wrong.
My party
I play as high elf paladin and most of my encounters so far I've had Astarion, Gale, and Shadow in my party. I feel like the only actually useful member is Astarion. I probably don't know how to utilize Gale well enough and my Tav paladin just feels like a paper-thin wall between the enemy and the rest of the party.
Are these early encounters in Act I intentionally challenging so that the game "force-teaches" you to utilize everything at your disposal and will it get easier later on or am I just on the wrong path with my character and my party? Honestly, I can't imagine going through the goblin camp in this state.
The gnolls with hyenas are very tough. They are probably the toughest thing before you go to the Underdark or into the mountain pass
Based on my DnD 5e experience, wizards like Gale come into their power once they get the Fireball spell, which happens at 5th level. Burning Hands is ok at lower levels but it tends to put the wizard in harm's way
Your party balance sounds reasonable. Better armor and higher constitution will help your paladin tank more over time
Keep going. It'll get easier and feel more natural over time