So the answer to "this 'difficulty curve' is a cliff" is to either not advance the game, or not play?

To those of you saying I should have gone outside, I did. I went out to fight, and was inundated by an entire army of Greydwarves, Greydwarf Brutes, Greydwarf Shamans, and Greylings. They poisoned me, threw rocks, and beat me to death before I made it off the porch... and then there was nothing to do but let them destroy my entire house, because the brutes one-shotted me every time I stood up from my bed.

How am I supposed to deal with that kind of offensive, with a leather shirt and my shiny new pick (which appears to be useless until I kill some fire demon things so I can build a smelter)?

I should have built a better base/defenses? Dig a moat? Seriously?

I just got back from getting my ass handed to me by some eldritch horror that looked vaguely like a deer that some Pokemon threw up on... when should I have dug a moat? How should I have dug a moat? With the hoe? That thing doesn't even flatten terrain right, never mind actually dig. When do I unlock the shovel?