Ok, so I was able to progress and I'm able to handle the battles better. Thank you for the tips. Some of them I was aware of or experimented with during lower level grinding areas. I think the mine instance was what tripped me up since I thought I legitimately believed that we had to beat Darkspore Drey in a battle of attrition. I can't wait to find all the slibs so that I can get more AoE or powerful spells to whack some major tail haha