There has to be some balance to it though. I haven't gotten to Mistlands yet, since I started over and only playing sporadically, but given the grind and cost of things, isn't the difficulty sort of self-adjusting to some degree?

May I ask what kind of gear you have to make Mistlands too easy?
I'm running around in an iron harnesk, the rest is still troll armour + flint spear (max upgraded), and I'm a bit hesitant to explore a newly found icecave.