PERMAC'S PROFILE

So, I'm in the works of making a project again (lost my count) and I'm placing treasure chests along the way to the first boss. Right now, I have four chests including Potions (1=2x Potions, 1=2x Potions, 1=1 Potion, 1=1 Potion).
The player starts off with 5 Potions because of story reasons. So, as the player will reach the first boss, they will have about 11 Potions depending on if they use some in battles or not. How generous should I be about giving potions away? I do this to ease the player into it, but maybe I give the player too much? I was hoping this could start off a main discussion about finding the right balance between helping the player in a logical sense or holding their hand all the way.

So, what is a logical way of item balance in a game?

The player could farm items, of course, in their own pace thanks to battle rewards and buying them at shops.
How easy should it be to earn stuff?

(Lot of questions here, but I hope you understand what kind of discussion I'm trying start here).