If you have a Cleric (or Druid) then "Harm" can help.
Sparks will be good to have in certain situations.
Make sure to check the fountains.
Otherwise, hit and run is the early strategy
Edit to add Druid

yeah thats pretty much how it goes
the good thing about overland battles is you can slowly approach until a couple start moving
the pick them off with your bows it makes huge groups much more manageable
this can even work in dungeons in large rooms

By the by,
Fire Arrow and Magic Arrow suck.

Level 8 is very low level (at least for this game). You will be getting much more powerful over time but still keep in mind that you will need to be careful with enemies of around your level of power.

Default party is a great party for smooth playthrough.

Be careful with Fireball because it's not the same as Firebolt. Fireball will hurt your party if they are too close to the explosion. It says that in its description.

As for play through, that depends on what you know of the game. *wink*

I mean the more familiar you get with the game, the more variety you have for your strategy when you start a new game. You can role play it as you like for each new game.

Kill everything, or don't kill much of anything. Hire NPCs, or never hire any. Stay out of range when fighting, or get up close and personal. No really, running up and fighting can finish off an opponent a lot quicker than low powered range weapons, especially if your opponents have range weapons. It is "might" and "magic" after all.

The game manual and the quests from the lords of the towns help give guidance to the storyline, along with the Seer if you can find him. But keep notes of what the lords of the towns say when they give their quests because not everything they say is recorded in the quest book, and they won't repeat themselves exactly. The Seer is pretty good at steering you back on track, but I'd say do make notes anyway just in case.

I always go into turn-based mode for the fights. Sometimes after a few shots I may want to move so switch between turn-based for the shooting, casting and striking, and real time for moving. On opening a door on a room full of enemies, I may let off just a few shots then duck back round the corner to wait for the first few out. The game is smart enough to know that lots of monsters cannot all sqeeze through a doorway at once!

Having to go back to town after just a few enemies looked wrong until I read your next post, but if your level 8 party is going after Fire Archers in Free Haven, then no wonder.

I've got mine to level 31 and am about to finish the first round of promotion quests. I've cleared over half the outdoors areas but far fewer of the dungeons. The only area where I've done all the dungeons is Mist (where there is only one!)

I've enjoyed learning and deciding which dungeons are easier and which more difficult. A private rule has been never to go into a dungeon without knowing why. This has kept me out of some I could (should?) have done earlier - eg Free Haven's sewers - and double checking around on the web I see there are some without quests, or with quests one must go inside to discover.

At level 8 my group (the default party) was at Bootleg Bay after clearing New Sorpigal outdoors (excluding islands) interleaved with Abandoned Temple and Goblinwatch dungeons; Mist outdoors including islands; and Castle Ironfist outdoors. After Bootleg Bay outdoors (islands and mainland) plus Temple of the Fist it was back to Mist to be made Wizard then (level 11 and up) Castle Ironfist's first three dungeons.

If yo fight in real time, then you can try to dodge enemy projectiles while shooting your own. Monsters closing in becomes more of an issue, but this may help mitigate some of the damage.

Once you have Fly, then be aware that you can change your vertical position at any time while in turn based mode, allowing you to fly up and down to dodge enemy shots. Fly down, shoot your volley of whatever, then elevate to avoid return fire.

But yes, there is going to be some slow going at first until you start getting the resources to deal and take/mitigate more damage. The Castles will also probably be something of a monster slog later, even though you'll be stronger.

In general, I have found MM6 to be more of a monster slog with expansive dungeons full of hordes than MM7-8. MM7 tends to be more "compact" while still being strong in many areas. (Some are off-put by an increased distinction between classes that make certain classes less "power-gamey" than in MM6 though.) MM8 tends to get very compact compared to MM6 and 7, and also sacrifices story, but has a different perspective that still is enjoyable to a lot of people. MM6 is also the biggest game world...typically a good thing, but if you have less time to play games these days perhaps you want a more "compact" experience.

I really enjoy all 3 games, but if you are finding the huge dungeons with lots of monsters are a deterrent to your enjoyment, then perhaps you might want to try MM7 for a bit too, then when you are at about the same point (around level 10) go on to MM8 and try a bit...then go with whichever one scratches your itch most! Or just stick with MM6 if it is not a big enough deterrent...and know that 60 hours from now when you finish the game (or more than 60 hours from now), you will have 2 more waiting for you that bring minor tweaks in the formula, but the same general gameplay!

If you find items with regeneration property you get healed while wandering around.