I've also found time is a huge factor. We keep our main bases on the starter island and as more time passed enemies would attack in larger numbers and better quality. They also became more frequent which was annoying. (by day 300 there was just a constant stream of graydwarfs). This was pre H&H not sure if the mechanics of spawning have changed much.

Originally posted by Drunio:

Yes. More likely to find mobs with stars is definitely a thing. There are also some different generations that are more difficult.

Yeah I had a feeling that was a thing too. Thanks for confirming

How much you have progressed on the story/campaign also influences. If you dont kill Eikthyr, it will send raids of necks and boars to your base (basically free food!) instead of greylings and graydwarfs. Each boss killed will increase raid difficulty.

When I looked at a mod config it gave a big hint about monsters further away from the middle had a higher chance of getting stars. I have no reason to think it was unique for that mod :) Seems like a beginner safety feature to me

Yeah, not only are the higher-star mobs more likely to spawn (this goes for animals also), but you're more likely to get the upper-level biomes when you get more than a few kilometers from the spawn point.

In my experience, the distance from starter area has nothing to do with difficulty or level of mobs. It is based on your progress in the game and how many bosses you have defeated... Also, A biome that's close to the starting area is exactly the same difficulty as the same biome farther away from start area.... distance doesn't matter... That's how it seems to me.

I agree that it has nothing to do with distance from the center/spawn. I have bases all over in my main world and I don't notice any difference.

I beleive i read this from developer somewhere, but all mosnters I encountered so far was the same. But this is Early Access... so who knows...

Well surtlings are pretty far from the centre in Ashlands and their still a pushover

Yes. More likely to find mobs with stars is definitely a thing. There are also some different generations that are more difficult.