[2022] Combat does not seem balanced for Human play through in Beta??

You would be correct! As I've mostly been adding features for the game's core systems. I haven't been able to focus on combat or events. Now that version 0.10 is ready to come out of beta, combat and events are what I'll be focused on going forward. :)

Those ratings are no longer a thing as each tile (in beta) now shows the types of events you'll encounter. So, if you see, "Bandits Sighted!" there's a good chance you'll be attacked by them. Those events are the same as you'd encounter under the ferocious rating.