The fight at the scond floor of the inn

Hi guys.

I want to know how I can kill the guys at the second floor of the inn in chapter 1. I went there after I finished the circus and tried it like 15 times and evertime it was a wipe out. Two times were close when most of them fell unconscious with stinking cloud. I have my monk, Minsc, Yoshimo, Jaheira and Aerie. No matter what I tried it was always same result. Am I to attack these guys later in the game or what?

Thanks for your time =)

Oh btw I play the game at hard difficulty setting. Did I take the game too lightly or what?

StinkingCloud is how I got them ... before the circus even I think. You got to get that mage and his familiar as soon as possable ! Once the mage and his familier are dead then worry about those guys coming through the doorway. Or you can wait till you're stronger. I cast stinking cloud while jahirre cast summon insects on the mage and everyone shot at the familiar with bows. then I cast lightening bolt at the mage .... now the stinking cloud had disable 2 of them, the mage was badly wounded and couldnt cast spells and the fammilier was badly wound and had his spells dirupted ... well you figuere out the rest.
Adventuring party in inn 0 : Merc Widowmaker and Co 6

[Memnoch]

Try casting an immobilizing spell like Emotion (patented by Armisael!) or Chaos on them to even the odds. The mage is pretty weak, you should be able to take him out of the fight by using Summon Insects if you have a druid with you. They are pretty tough for a new group. The dwarf has 200 hp.

[Draggor]

Send one character up and then run bck down stairs when they see you. Only one or two of the characters should follow. Kill them then go for the rest. It's called baiting and can be used for most fights. PS Yes you did take the game too lightly. I'm still playing on easiest

Merc: I will try stinking cloud again I guess but that sob dwarf moves too fast! The mage I was not worried about much as stinking cloud usually gets him and his familiar but after it wears of he is dangerous.

Memnoch: Hmm I have emotion I guess but haven't tried it. And yes I use summon insects already and it helps a lot.

Draggor: I played Everquest for a long time and I know the baiting/pulling trick. Actually you use it all the time there cause it's next to impossible playing it without pulling. But in this game I would rank it next to casting cloud on unseen NPCs like dragons :/ I will play more and if I seem to reload after every new encounter I will start again with normal difficulty.

You dont have to restart to change the difficulty

The thief is hardest I think, and he do a lot of damage with backstab
and got invisible all the time.
The best tip you should come back later when you are stronger
with better offensive spells and weapons.

Go with Memnoch's suggestion. You've got a fairly good chance of knocking them all unconcious with one casting of emotion, though they do have improved saving throws on the harder difficulty levels from what I can remember.