[Black Robed One]

Actually, I thought that initial battles in BG1 were fairly easy, at least comparing to some other CRPGs (like Wizardry 8, where your first trip under the open sky [i.e. when you get outta the starting dungeon] is quite a challenge). It is the late-game combats that trouble me, like fighting a pair of skeleton warriors near the endgame (truth to tell, the last time I fought them I got stuck and was forced to re-start the game to advance my main character to the top level, not to mention “feeding” her the tomes of Strength and Charisma).

Anyway, good luck to you, Bungleau, and as about the mage...

...There are a few ways to get a mage for identifying items (not to mention their value in combat later in the game):
1) Dual-class Imoen into a mage (assuming that she is still with you) and take Safana (she can be found at Lighthouse map, although she has a moderately challenging quest) as your party’s thief. Safana is the best person for picking locks and finding/removing traps in BG1!
2) Recruit Garrick (at Beregost map) into your party; his quest – killing Silke is a very easy one. Garrick is also a bard, so he will be able to identify more items without having to waste spells on them.
3) Accept Minsc’s offer and rescue Dynaheir – a very good mage, but you’ll have to tolerate her aptitude. Minsc himself is a strongest NPC in BG1 – Strength = 18/92!
4) Endure through the second chapter without a mage, and you will rescue Xan in the end of it; Xan is quite a pessimist, however, and due to his being an Enchanter he cannot cast many powerful offensive spells from Evocation school.

Personally, I prefer to have at least two wielders of Arcane magic (Mages or Bards) and at least one wielder of Divine magic (Clerics or Druids) in the party.