Where in the guide does it suggest Expert difficulty? afaik that's only for deadly dragons. the Bandit Vermin Defiler is from OBIS, and it's going to be toned down in the next version. perhaps SR:LE should fix its stats in the meanwhile? at the moment SR:LE does not contain a combat mod, an AI mod and an encounter level mod so it's pretty easy imo, but I enjoy having to run from strong enemies at low levels. Adept difficulty is fine, nerfing player damage and giving mobs tons of hp is a crappy way of raising the challenge anyway :)