OK, question. I downloaded it (as a FRUA module) and used the default party of 8(?), but after clearing the first 3 'easy' dungeons around Neverwinter the rest are much too tough. What gives?
I should also mention that there are plenty of areas near neverwinter that are challenging even for higher level character parties. I just had a near TPK of level 5/6chars in Windycliffs, which is only 2 areas out from neverwinter. General difficulty will get more challenging the further out you get from neverwinter, but that there are also challenging battles near the start.
Check out the western section of Southpoint. Use search to find the secret passage and you will find a fight with a minotaur and some kobolds. Minotaurs always drop +1 battleaxes, so you can use this to get a couple magic weapons for your melee characters.
Once the whole party has reached level 2. I would start fighting in windycliffs. There are a few higher xp fights there that will help you more easily advance.Once your cleric hits level 3, grab a couple charm snakes to nuke the difficulty of a few of the random battles with pyro snakes. Also, there is a pretty high level fight against all snakes in either windycliffs or port llast that is super easy with charm snakes. Plus yous hould get some +1 leather you can use or sell for easy platinum.
