Originally posted by Kursor1:

Why? Was there an upgrade before playing with trolls or burial-chamber skeleton hordes in black forest? Abominations or oozers etc in the swamp? Wolves or golems in the mountains? Fulings and berserkers in the plains? No, no there was not. Mistlands progression is fine, in terms of critters.

Yes, you upgrade deer armor with bones. Bones are primarily found in the black forest. You can also take down trolls before you access bronze and get troll armor. Both of these upgrades are possible before acquiring cores.

For the swamp, the crypts are actually safer than wandering around outside. The monsters in the crypts are separated into small groups or even individuals which can be easily cheesed with a stagbreaker. The swamp crypts are in no way comparable to the infested mines where enemies are free to mob you at the gate. Abominations are optional and very easy to get away from if you're not ready to fight them yet. The player can choose to go for the root armor before or after going into the crypts, and between the two, crypts are easier.

Once again, you do not need to clear a frost cave and kill cultists in an enclosed environment before you get your silver armor. Frost caves are more difficult than free roam, but you don't have to go in there first, or at all if you don't care about fenris armor. You're not required to clear a frost cave before making silver armor.

In the plains, you can selectively pull fulings out one at a time and then sneak in and grab flax and barley without having to clear the entire village, deal with berserkers and shamans, and look inside every single chest hoping to find what you need. Those materials are usually out in the open and right on the edge. You grab and go, get your production started, make upgrades, and then clear the villages for fun, profit or totems.

In the mistlands, there is only one way to progress and that is straight through doing the hardest part first. The alternate armor set does not have an alternative method for aquiring it.