Is Arelith getting harder for a mundane to solo?

[Wizard Khalifa]

I been playing since last november so it's almost a year already. My first character that reached level 30 was a monk with some level of fighter at epic level. Throughout that playthrough, there were seldom times when I struggled and the hardest was when I actually managed to solo the dragon at the temple of Auril.

After I got bored of playing,I played the game on and off for the last few months and I decided to play it properly again last month and I realized that enemies do more damage than I remembered. I recently did viper monk temples and viper masters hit for 33 dmg. I'm not sure if I'm misremembering but back when I played a monk, they didn't use to hit this hard. Aside from damage, some enemies now seemingly have high AB and AC. First off was The Elder water elementals of the Viper monk monastery. My highest AB of 38+18 dice roll was a miss while this guy was pummeling my level 16fighter/4monk/5WM of 57AC( this is with every buffs conceivable and improv expertise) with first, second and even third APR with damage of 25-28. What made it worst was the fact it has knockdown and stunning fist. I couldn't even hit it for like round after round and only manage to get it to injured after what feels like 2 minutes.

Then there is the Myconid Guards of Skaldark that has its highest AB at 32 and I dunno how high are the AC which also hits for 28 dmg. My 15 level barb of 42 AC and 23 AB can only run away when I meet them.

So I had to ask: Is Arelith getting harder for Mundane to solo or did me playing Monk first(High saves, immunity to disease and poisons, solid AB and AC, Mind Immunity and Epic Dodge) actually didn't introduce me to the fact that the game was always this hard for mundane?

[chris a gogo]

Nope not getting any harder different content is easier/harder depending on character class and build.

21 monk got mind immune and 20DR vs none magic weapons so they do get it easy against some content.

But worry not for after the monk rework is finished they will lose everything and be chugging clairty potions with the rest.

[Wizard Khalifa]

Nope not getting any harder different content is easier/harder depending on character class and build.

21 monk got mind immune and 20DR vs none magic weapons so they do get it easy against some content.

But worry not for after the monk rework is finished they will lose everything and be chugging clairty potions with the rest.

Yeah, after playing some times again, the content is actually the same it's just that I realized some of the contents are disproportion in terms of difficulties.

Ah, I'm gonna miss Perfect Self.

[Iceborn]

Due to the accidental power creep over the ages (new classes tend to have more features, more toys, more power than some of the older classes), the 'average' of difficulty lowers with the passage of time. There's also widespread changes that make some things harder, or easier - +4 weapons becoming a thing, Sequencer staves, spell changes, the loremageddon, etc, etc.

Occasionally, some of the dungeons are updated with newer expectations based on the current perception of what the 'average' power should be according the intended level. There's also the matter that area designers don't want to make dungeons with mobs that are just "lol lmao, my mobs have 95% immunity to every form of damage EXCEPT one, they hit for 800 AB at 36 APR and autocast ranged touch attacks every half strike. Also they have unique scripted auras"; it's more likely you'll see mob 'squads' with various enemy types that serve to complement each other, or enforce further the theme of the dungeon, since the AI is ancestral and we have a very limited tactical space where we can work to make encounters interesting more than a matter of 'melee mob rushes at you, then dies. Repeat 300 times'.

More on point, monk is a class with plethora of abilities and a defensive focus; having a tool for every situation, the ability to just passively sprint, immunity to a crap ton of effects, innate spell resistance, universal save growth and WIS-to-AC gives them a considerable edge to navigating solo. While they may take longer to clear the content, they have greater chances at surviving it.

[Wizard Khalifa]

Due to the accidental power creep over the ages (new classes tend to have more features, more toys, more power than some of the older classes), the 'average' of difficulty lowers with the passage of time. There's also widespread changes that make some things harder, or easier - +4 weapons becoming a thing, Sequencer staves, spell changes, the loremageddon, etc, etc.

Occasionally, some of the dungeons are updated with newer expectations based on the current perception of what the 'average' power should be according the intended level. There's also the matter that area designers don't want to make dungeons with mobs that are just "lol lmao, my mobs have 95% immunity to every form of damage EXCEPT one, they hit for 800 AB at 36 APR and autocast ranged touch attacks every half strike. Also they have unique scripted auras"; it's more likely you'll see mob 'squads' with various enemy types that serve to complement each other, or enforce further the theme of the dungeon, since the AI is ancestral and we have a very limited tactical space where we can work to make encounters interesting more than a matter of 'melee mob rushes at you, then dies. Repeat 300 times'.

More on point, monk is a class with plethora of abilities and a defensive focus; having a tool for every situation, the ability to just passively sprint, immunity to a crap ton of effects, innate spell resistance, universal save growth and WIS-to-AC gives them a considerable edge to navigating solo. While they may take longer to clear the content, they have greater chances at surviving it.

Thanks for the answer!

I think I get what you mean. This reminded of my recent barbarian delving into the Skal's Master dungeon. If I remembered correctly, before the update, the mindbreakers never actually tries to dispel or breach but after the new update, they would actually do that at the start of the combat so imagine my mundane PC got his animals and AC buffs dispelled and breached in the first round when I met with two mindbreakers. In fact, I think most casters mob are doing them at the start of the combat.