The starting enemies are now easier. The pirate biker and pets kitty-mobile both got nerfed as their health was too high.

Next, the encounters near the starting area are a bit easier. But they still ramp up to full as you near Portland. This gives you breathing room to earn achievements and power up your party.

And last but not least, there are now difficulty levels. You select your difficulty when you first make a profile, any existing profiles are now set to "gamer" which is the way it was before but with a 10% boost to salvaged resources.

If you're still having trouble, you can select the "casual" or "tourist" levels for more stat boosts.