I have taken my Dwarf Warrior through all five of the tutorial quests, and he is now on his second free-form quest. Though he has a good set of armor and a powerful weapon, I am finding that he has almost zero chance of success against an enemy with Fear. The Fear test relies on Intellect. With an Int value of 21 and +5 for Bravery, my Warrior will usually quiver in place while the Dragon/Troll/Giant beats him to death. As I read the rules, my Warrior doesn't even get a chance to try to Escape before the Fear test. It seems odd that a brave warrior relies on his weakest characteristic when facing a mighty foe. I've already burned all my Fate points to re-roll Fear encounters, and my guess is that I'll soon be doing the same with my Life points to survive them.
So I'm house-ruling this so a hero can rely on Str or Int in a Fear test, and also that any attempt to Escape comes before the Fear test is made.
I learned the same lesson as you did. Next character will be more balanced, probably a druid.