I personally never felt the mistlands as being "brutal" though... they never scared me nearly as much as the plains did. The padded set and black metal sword were already more than adequate against anything that wasn't two starred. And then there's bonemass.

But yes, not having a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ soldier in my lawn every single time i teleport to my small shroom/sap farm is a welcome change. I have this one black metal chest that's like half full of carapace...