Originally posted by jjrobinson2:

There's a difference between play balance, even in a survival game, and brutalizing your customers for sport.

There is another thing to consider, besides the points others have made.

Since the world generates randomly, this balance you're speaking of is also heavily influenced by that randomness. Ultimately, you either have to adjust your play style to survive in the environment you generated, or generate a new environment randomly or with an existing seed, then work your way around that instead.

Personally, I avoid building inside the Black Forest. In my first play through, running the game totally oblivious to how everything worked, I built a wooden fort just outside the Black Forest - I didn't know there was more than one Black Forest. A troll smelled me, then lay siege to my fort, destroying a third of it. I decided it was not worth trying to defend it, so I built up my resources, learned from the mistake, and rebuilt my settlement back in the Meadows.

Two world generations later, I'm running around trolls nearly naked, wearing only a Wolf Cape, shooting fire arrows with my Huntsman's Bow at them with ease. My raised castles can only be attacked by drakes and the occasional fireball from Surtlings.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2775503099

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2775503091

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2775503096