ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Currently there are two major problems with world map encounters:
- Maj'Eyal encounters are weak, and pose absolutely no threat past level 5 or so... making ambushes a real pain as it's just an annoying waste of time
- Far East encounters (orc patrols) are simply death traps with the new AI, even for level 50 characters, as most of the orcs generated are elite spellcasters

My suggestions for the Western encounters:
- add "zone" encounters, depending on the closest dungeon, with increased difficulty matching that dungeon and the level of the player: trolls near Trollmire, animals near Old Forest, undead near Dreadfell, orcs near Reknor...
- buff the D encounters: currently you get a lone hatchling, it's ok for low level, but at high level you could get packs, then drakes, then wyrms

My suggestions for the Eastern encounters:
- less elites, more common orcs, "packs" (like those in Reknor, with soldiers and a few wyrmics)
- lower the number of enemies per patrol, increase it slightly with player level
- make orc patrols more common near the Prides, sunwall patrols more common near the Sunwall

One time in Maj'Eyal I got a big D which managed to summon one little d.
And one other time I got Rsomething the Warg Titan with his pack of weak pups.

Neither of them was more than a speed bump for the character I was running at the time.

I like your idea about more "flavorful" encounters in Maj'Eyal depending on the proximity to map features. Maybe a similar approach could be used in the East, with the five Orc Prides each having their own territory to patrol. So, more berserkers near Grushnak and more wyrmics near Gorbag, etcetera.

Completely agree with PowerWyrm

Agreement on all points here. Having orc patrols be potentially dangerous at level 20-30 is fine. Having them be a serious threat at level 50 is just silly. Likewise, the only time I've ever really felt threatened by a patrol back west was when I was worried that the experience would level me at a time that I didn't want to be leveled.

If you have problem with orc patrols, try using an invisibility rune. Those elite spellcasters have a lot of AoE spells and will often kill themselves when they can't see you.

I agree with PowerWyrm as well. Especially regarding the east, where you need luck and advanced tactics to prevent them from being a deathtrap. I'm currently running a yeek slinger who's doing fairly well in the west (taking on the master now), but I know will have serious problems in the east.