It's easier to make a good build after you get more bonus points, that are earned with achievements (presumably in Ironman mode). You can get more perk, skill and stat points with it, plus food.
After that you need good physical stats (Strength, Agility, Endurance, also Perception rank 5 is useful to see next enemy stance and more). You can use perk points to get more stats. Sunderer perk can be learned when you get more levels to beat armored opponents.
Good armor, including stat raising armor from second town, also will benefit you, and a weapon. Gold is not that hard to get by completing quests in brothel and the one that starts on town square.
I find combat to be easiest as the warrior class in the non-story mode. This is your simplest "hit things with a stick" type of character/combat. As before mentioned, I recommend investing perk points in perception when available. Aside that, I like to get the uppercut skill as soon as possible. More often than not, the key to surviving enemies is blocking; I find it useful to be able to swap directly into an aggressive stance and press the advantage for attack.
Also as mentioned, I like to focus on achievements. More achievements mean more bonus points when making a new character, which in turn means you successfully* can get further on the map and take down more advanced enemies.
It should also be noted that there isn't really a "one size fits all" build. Most enemies are at least partially weak to physical attacks. But almost all of them require a different approach, some even needing a different form of damage to cause any effect. (I.e. some enemies are immune to physical damage)
*Depending on your definition of success, or alternatively, "taking down"
