How do you guys deal with large groups of baddies? Specifically those large bands of goatfolk. Even at higher levels, the hornblower and shaman are a really nasty combo - and I always end up having to retreat or just abuse the hell out of screen change kiting.
Powerful ranged attacks will do it. High-level Light Manipulation, Freezing / Burning hands, Sunder Mind, or just a good ranged weapon and high agility to aim it. Kill them as soon as they appear on the screen (they don't tend to appear bunched up in my experience, so you can take your time and let some of your mutations recover as you come across them -- there will always be a lot in the general area, but you shouldn't have to fight dozens at once or anything.)
Proselytize or Beguiling helps by giving you another source of damage and giving them another target. In my most recent game, I used Domination to teach a unique snapjaw Freezing Hands and level it up. That's insanely powerful, although it relies a lot on luck. You can recruit those flying serpent things instead, I think, to get burning hands on a flying ally for sure...? I can't recall any enemies with guaranteed Freezing Hands, which I think is superior.
The shamans are particularly nasty due to their special abilities. For them, I find Menacing Stare is incredibly valuable (they won't use their powers while retreating.) Or you can try to make your ranged attacks so powerful that you can kill them before they get a chance to do anything, like with Sunder Mind. Or you can use Freezing Hands / Cryokinesis to freeze them solid and maybe kill them. Berate will slow them down and weaken their mental powers, too.
Clairvoyance is useful against ranged enemies, since it lets you figure out their exact location so you can shoot back at them if they're outside your normal vision range. Night vision goggles or the kindle mutation also work for this. Another trick is to throw a glowsphere; just make sure you have another light source.
If you're not a mutant, you
need a powerful gun. It isn't optional.
Also, there's nothing particularly wrong with just retreating if you get into trouble.