Is this really tough or am I doing something wrong? Level 2 fighter and having problems killing most monsters in the game.

It's not meant to be easy -- it isn't a console game.

Only played the demo so far, though I will be purchasing both games this week.

You could be having a tough time due to character build i guess. It took me a few tries and rerolls to come up with a viable character I was happy with.

There are some nice builds on the official forums

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/index.php?sid=1853e7c2f1d37e94b45bf9a06c808a94

Was thinking the same thing. Probably best to start again.

Eschalon book 1 is harder than the second. In first book you need to be careful with traps(they do a ton of damage)..
You also need to know a little bit which skills are very good to level up and which are not so usefull. I cant comment since i havent played it for a year or more..

Eschalon book 2 is much easier and as warrior you can faceroll the game(just dont run in 5mobs at once) fight.. run away to another screen, rest.. fight.. character creation is very important too :)

Fighting at night can give you an advantage.

Normally you and your opponents suffer high miss chances in darkness. You can solve this by using a torch but that will help your enemies too. Use the spell (or potion) Cat's eyes to reduce your own penalties while still making the enemies miss a lot.

If you think this game is tough, try any of the older spiderweb games. Avernum 1-6, Geneforge 1-5 should take away as much sanity that you have. Friggin games are impossible.

The game is easy when you know how it works. You have to specialize your stats/skills. Spreading points around will lead to a shitty char. Think about it this way, you have randomized encounters that don't base experience on your lvl. That means you can skip most quests and just do them to gain lvls above maximum.

There is one user on the forums who made a dexterity focused dagger fighter that could kill any creature/boss in 5 regular strikes or less. Thats something you can't do in almost any other game.

I restarted after my failed archer got stuck due to no gold, arrows or any other method of killing enemies.

I chose a rather odd build, a healer with unarmed combat to save money from having to buy weapons. I deal decent amount of damage and hit rather often, at least on Salamanders and I've now enough gold to buy 2 spells, I think I'll buy a heal spell but I still have problems with those damn Bloodsucker bats. This game is not forgiving and not in a good way, it feels like the developers didn't know how to balance the game so they created just a bunch of possible builds and only a few works and the challenge is to find a build that works. I rarely enjoy RPGs when it comes to that. :(

How well does a pure fighter or pure mage work? The fighter won't be able to heal other than potions I guess and a mage can't do squat when mana is out. :/

I never use magic at all for any of my fighters and I never have any problems. You just have to specialize. For most melee fighters there are really 4 ways of building with many variations. Go all out with strength and an additional stat with it. For this you can do 2 strength and 1 perception for a strong fighter that is resistant to magic and spots traps which he evades. Ignore trap disarming as most can either be spotted and avoided or run through when good in health.

Or you can do 2 strength and 1 endurance for a typical fighter or 2 endurance and 1 strength for even hardier fighter.

For a fighter that evades and finesses his enemies, 2 dexterity and 1 endurance makes a tough guy that can evade hits and still manage to take them when he does get hit from endurance. This build is better with alchemy at a decent lvl, something you can do with training alone when you have cash to save points.

Going a similar route of 2 speed and 1 endurance is useful for swords or cleaving. Just make sure you don't at least get endurance to 20 and totally neglect. This build is very useful, I used it in book 1 to beat the game. I killed the main boss in no time.

The list goes on and on. The eschalon series may be hard, but at least its playable unlike almost all of Vogel's games, lol.

Fighters are usually easier for first time players as they can't run out of ammunition. I tried an archer the 1st time but quickly switched to a fighter. Oh and mages/priests are possible but I find playing a magic user to be lame.

If my memory is correct - YOU NEVER LET your weapon to break completely! Just swap to another weapon. This way you can fix the weapon at the smith!

I am finding a pure mage more than capable and no problems with a lack of mana when following build advice here

http://basiliskgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4259&sid=b7db533d031d1c164785d53d9381e43b

Well having rolled high endurance fighter (swords, dodge, light armor) I managed to clear the first map (with lots of resting ofc). But moving to Salted Coast proved too dangerous for me as those blobs and thugs hack me into pieces in no time when theres more of them.

Im starting to like the game...and probably gonna try rolling a proper muscle man :)

Go to this link for in depth stat/skill info. It has all the proper information on book 1 and 2 for stats and skills. Usually 2 weapon skill points per lvl with stats having 2 points in offensive stat (strength, speed, dexterity) and the remaining point in something defensive (endurance, intelligence, perception, wisdom, concentration)

http://eschalon.wikia.com/wiki/Eschalon_RPG_Wiki

The cool thing is that no stats are useless. Although it isn't optimal, you can use concentration which gives (to hit rating, trap disarming, spell casting) for a melee fighter with a extra point in endurance and it would work pretty well. It wouldn't be ridiculously powerful, but it would have extra perks that other builds don't have.

I find playing a mage to be quite easy. Of course that's my play style, but still.

What skills do you use to ease up on mana regeneration?