When you go up against some fairly large groups, what do you always use to?

I always use AoE to against the large groups; I think nothing in the personal storyline is difficult unless you are severely underlevelled. That will be easy for you “recommended" level to follow with what they tell you.

If you are at level 10, then you may run Sceptre/Dagger using the fairly common burst rotation (Fire 4-3-2 -> Earth 3-4-5), as Sceptre/Dagger is quite a good all-round weapon choice to begin with, as it does not require range (like Staff) and is not dependent on melee range as well (like Dagger/Dagger).

You may also get the mobs within melee range and then cast Fire 3 and 2 within the ring of fire. That's a viable strategy. Buy some Guild Wars 2 gold  to have a try!