I'd recommend "Mists of Betrayal" from ED 1st edition as a starting adventure. There you have all kind of stuff that makes Earthdawn what it is
If you are playing ED3 you should invest some time in studying the Talents you get at higher circles. I recommend that you always plan your choice of Talents for some circles ahead so you will get the right portfolio for the tasks to come. There are a lot of interetsing Talents that will give you new oportunities for your style of play but at the same time you should see to it, that your portfolio works well together to make use of the synergy effect.
After decades of play I can say: the higher your charakters get the longer the fighting will last. Surprisingly the complexity of the fights is not rising too drastically. A melee fighter stays a melee fighter. Just the amout of ambient noise of smaller Talents and powers broaden the battletime.