True, true.
Yep, I've been getting agitated again.
It's all the PQI runs and the system limitations vista opening up after you really hit the PQI hard. I do need a break. Plus, all's been going swell as far as the game shaping up goes as far as I'm concerned, well all the things that've caught my attention and plenty of those that haven't. The specifics of CB and BM adjustments were nothing short of brilliant, IMO, especially if bringing sorcerer out into the spotlight was the intention (as a distinct viable choice).
This vicious thing freaked me out because I've seen it all before, and the old magma mines / "you just have to scumm/prep the "right" stuff" metagame drove me up the wall even back then. It was really offputting for people who weren't interested in investing too much time in the game... I'm really sad I can't come across the way I want - the whole "what's the exact reason that vets find HARD easy and novices hit a brick wall?" discussion with the potions and all that is actually really interesting and something I'd love seing solved if at all possible (seeing the depths of the PQI makes me sceptical that it can be fixed).
Anyway, yeah, just ease the grip on the stuff you're comfortable with guys - it's all worked out great whenever that's been done. I don't do this stuff for selfish reasons, even the too egocentric stuff.
Anyway, Havendale Bridge, Rock Garden, Hex Ruins and Creeplight are probably difficult enough with crampedness and resource denial that the introduction of the 2nd boss had made them too hard for the average player. I've noticed this on the playthrough but couldn't be sure - except that once the potions were unlocked I was breezing through places I was having trouble with a few runs before that. It's also probably the reason why the few things that beat vicious+ seem so necessary for not having a frustrating game. Maybe those dungeons could do with non-random custom bosses for less randomness and less overall power. With the stuff that would in all other circumstances deserve a nerf out of the pictury - they'd be too hard, and the vets can have the vicious mode for thier antics, as long as it's not pushed into normal peoples game.