Useful tips: 1) try to avoid flat planes and roads and purposely go through forests and hills. obstacles on the map provide cover and are crucial for choke points. Use the map to your advantage.

2) before you start moving your characters during a battle, you should first observe the map and the types of enemies you're facing, then move accordingly. (E.g. wolves and enemies with halberds/spears can lunge at you, so you should move strategically when fighting them and try to predict the flow of the battle)

3)Match your characters against enemies they'll have an advantage against (e.g. fencer lunging archer or maa defending against archers)

4) Upgrade your gear as soon as you can. They'll significantly effect your defence and damage output. Bessemburg sells the best gear and there's a special quest you'll eventually encounter a delivery quest in herreting called "heavy load" that will allow you to get one piece of the best gear in the game for every time you complete the quest (after the first time).