I lol'd. The game is easy. Easy compared to KotoR or even Jade Empire. I brought my cunning up to 18 and whenever I got talent points I would put them into Coercion and the Combat one, forget what it's called.
I learned through playing Bioware's games that Persuasion goes a long way into getting good gear/monies. Fuck all the other talents for your main, like stealing, survival, herbalist, poison maker, etc... Put them into the combat one and Coercion and the game will be a LOT easier.