ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Just started playing and having a ton of fun. First character was an alchemist who pressed their luck against a skeleton and got stunned to death. Right now playing a bulwark, and made it to level 13/14. I noticed some areas I went to I had the option to stroll since I was higher level than what was expected. Is there any downside to clearing the level normally?

I went through the levels like normal, because I figured a little bit more exp and more gold would always be helpful. Thanks!

You want the gold and the items so I would recommend you clear them normally.

you get the option after defeating 3 boses, not reaching a lvl.
otherwise, yeah, slaughter them! SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!!!

There's no downside (other than the fact that you might get murdered by some OP class combo rare that you aren't ready for), but some people might consider it too "grindy." I generally stroll, the exp gained and gold gained is negligible, but if I really need to replace a certain piece of gear, I'll usually stick around for the whole dungeon.

Thanks guys. I read somewhere that the enemies scale in level with you, so I wasn't sure if getting some of that extra experience would make the game a lot harder, like Final Fantasy Tactics or The Last Remnant.

They do scale, but it doesn't make the game harder.