I agree that going to the wolf quest just from the start is a bit difficult. This is the second dungeon, the first one being the vermin cave. Get level 2 in this cave and buy the best armor for Ralph, that should do the trick for most of chapter 2 combat.
About the bracers, in fact they can be used by Samantha, that's why their cost is higher than the one of a low tier shield that only Sarah/the MC can equip.
Just like a tier 3 leather armor may have the same amount of def as a tier 2 chainmail. The Eleen shop sells both Tier 0 and Tier 1 stuff.
I also agree we should mention using ctrl for hiding text - but it's not a built-in feature of RPGMaker, we coded it.