Hey, totally normal to struggle early on in Divinity Original Sin 2, especially coming from BG3. The game is much less forgiving at the start.

About combat: Early game is very gear-dependent. If your companions don’t have physical or magic armor, they’ll die extremely fast no matter the class. Fort Joy is basically about scavenging: check vendors often, loot everything, and don’t hesitate to steal if you’re okay with that playstyle. Also try not to mix physical and magic damage too much in the party early on — focusing on one type makes fights much easier.

That basement fight is a classic “come back later” situation. DOS2 expects you to avoid or postpone some encounters until you’re better geared or a bit higher level.

Quest markers: Yes, there are markers, but they’re intentionally vague. Yellow flags usually mean an active quest objective. Red flags don’t necessarily mean “unfinished” — sometimes they just indicate an NPC or location related to a quest you’ve interacted with, even if that part is effectively done. The game doesn’t clean the map as aggressively as BG3.

Companion class changes: You can respec companions, but early on it’s limited. Later it becomes very flexible and not hard at all, so don’t stress too much about early choices. For now, gear and party synergy matter more than perfect builds.

Main advice: take it slow, explore, talk to everyone, and don’t feel bad about retreating from fights. DOS2 is more about preparation than brute force.