Prior to getting this game, I read some of the stuff about it being buggy and some other reviewers' complaints...And combat definitely seems really clunky to me. Now, the first time I started it up, I didn't think anything of not putting any points into melee. It didn't take me long to figure out that was a mistake! However, now I've been playing a bit more lately, and I've found that the combat doesn't seem to improve, regardless of where I place my points.

I find myself constantly missing, occasionally hitting myself, and in one instance of trying to fire my gun, having its entire cylinder empty out. I do have points in the respective areas this time, melee, dodge, and firearms. I have dexterity and perception both at 9, I believe, but none of this really seems to change things.

Is this the natural rhythm of combat in Arcanum, or is there something I've missed in not reading the lengthy manual of the game?

Combat is a tricky thing in Arcanum. It does really take until at least Expert skill level to get good at the skill, and even then you can mess up.

For example, you have dex at 9, which means your melee can have two points in it, and a skill of apprentice (if you've trained that). That isn't very high. It is probably still early in the game and so combat is quite difficult. If you get 18 dex though, and become a master of melee you almost never miss and if you have enough strength, things you hit go down fast.

I found that playing on the "Easy" difficulty is very helpful on the first playthrough. Doing so doesn't remove the challenge from the game, it just makes it easier for you to get in and get grounded and have fun. Plus, if it starts to get too easy, I think you can change the difficulty at any time.

Have you tried using the Balanced Sword or giving one to a companion?

If the OP is playing a techy character, of course. Though, yeah, balanced swords are amazing.

Easy difficulty makes you more likely to hit enemies and enemies less likely to hit you (I believe).

As you seem to have already found there are quite a few ways to do most quests (especially "main" ones). :)

The balanced sword is the second tech schematic in the Smithy discipline. It is a very light-weight, high speed sword and thus you get a lot of hits per turn, even with a low speed character.

Good luck with the spiked traps! They can be pretty useful, I've found. But I was never very patient in making sure they were set up before luring enemies onto them. But if you are up for that sort of thing they (and the later traps) work pretty well in doing some damage/immobilizing enemies.

Pretty much what SheBear said. Again, though, switching to Easy doesn't remove the game's challenge. If you fight an enemy of a higher level, you will still have a hard time fighting it. Switching to Easy just reduces the chance that you will critically miss and it reduces the chance that your enemies will score a critical hit.

Ah, ok. I may have to try making one of those sometime, and give easy a shot. I really like a lot of the ideas in this game, but getting to play around with them through leveling up can be a bit exasperating at times, considering how unskilled your characters seem to be with fighting.