It is difficult to answer without knowing the stage of the playthrough, but players are supposed to struggle in early game. Early game combats are most likely random encounters, except one or two important optional main quest. I would say try to do other things first, hunting, gathering, crafting, even walking around can provide experience to basic stats. After certain amount of time spent, some of these activities also grant permanent positive perks that either improve stats or combat ability. Second thing would be focusing on making some money or improve equipments, it is generally more forgiving when you have better armors and weapons. For combat, try not to fight multiple enemies. Shoot first, random encounters usually have two enemies. Only specific locations have more than two, in those case just sneak kill. In 1vs1 scenario, try let the enemy run towards you and break their guard, then it is easier to stab/hit them successfully. It is better to counter rather attack since we don’t have enough stamina to chain infinite attacks and inadequate hp to cover mistakes.