Some people like to say that the combat is easy, and while it isn't terribly complicated, I think it's fair to point out that it also isn't very forgiving of mistakes. In some games, it's normal to trade hits with enemies; this is not really one of those. A few hits is often all it takes to bring you to the brink of death against enemies in the biome you are currently progressing in, even without running into starred enemies. And if you, as an inexperienced player, accidentally wander into a later biome, your death is almost guaranteed.

Surprises are most often what gets you killed, like finding out a group of enemies has some stars in their ranks only after you start fighting, or having your fight draw additional, unexpected attention. The biggest danger might be wandering into a new biome for the very first time, because even if you maxed out your gear leading up to this, it's barely adequate for the new surroundings, and you aren't familiar with the new enemies. Having to figure out new enemy movements and attack patterns while wearing the previous biome's gear is a recipe for getting killed, especially if you rely on parry shields.

Always keep a relevant Forsaken Power handy when wandering into a biome while still using equipment/food from the previous biome, and when in doubt, beat a hasty retreat---discretion being the better part of valor, or however that goes. Live to fight another day? That sort of thing. Having to make a corpse run isn't fun, and if you die often enough your character skills will suffer.