From someone who has hundreds of hours into it, the single biggest advice I can give you is be prepared in every scenario. A lot of the early game is pretty easy but the difficulty will spike hard when you go into the Swamp. Things start hitting hard, and you need to make sure you are well fed with the best food possible. Also make use of the "rested" bonus as much as possible (gained by being sheltered and near a fire for a short time).

Nighttime is generally riskier in every biome. You wont have to worry about anything in Meadows. Black Forest you might get mobbed by grey dwarves. Generally though you are going to have a cold debuff at night, so you might as well sleep the night way (you can actually sleep even before the sun goes down as long as it is late enough in the day).

Run away from trolls unless you are sure you can kite them with arrows or parry their strikes (very risky in early game).

The general progression is (Meadows -> Black Forest -> Swamp -> Mountain -> Plains -> Mistlands). Each biome increases in difficulty. Do not enter anything above the first two unless you are ready. The enemies in each scale to the tech you are assumed to have, so don't learn the hard way that wolves will 1 or 2 shot you if you go playing on the mountain.

Don't take unnecessary risks like venturing off too far without a backup plan if you get killed. Make the meads (which are potions) you need for each biome.

Also play with friends if at all possible. It just is way more fun, and makes the tedious parts feel more like just hanging out.