Originally posted by Neo-Rio:

I have been excessively using portals, but boy oh boy did I want to smash the screen when a denizen of the plains decided to destroy my portal. That really sucked! I had to sail all the way back again (took about 30 minutes)

Why not pick up all the bits and rebuild it, you may need an extra bit or two but carry spares.

If you leave the Portals out in the open and unprotected that's your own fault.

I only play solo and have killed all the bosses and done a couple of playthroughs.
I generally miss out Bronze Armour and Iron just mine enough for the tools/weapons and stick to Troll Armour until into Wolf armour.