Difficulty Thresholds?

[Metalhunter]

Alright, thanks for the help everyone. I am guessing I must have been doomed/cursed and not aware of it. Due to the number of questions about various circumstances I am going to assume my theory about the difficulty ramping up at predetermined levels/progression points must be completely false and any change in difficulty likely comes from status changes etc...

[biomateria]

For the most part, difficulty is based on Dungeon Level, which is tied to the dungeon you are in. As you descend floors, difficulty increases, though it is not always a one-to-one ratio. There is only one special area to my knowledge - the Small Cave (SMC), where Dungeon Level = 2 x Character Level. Very dangerous place, for what I hope are obvious reasons.

To answer your question a little more explicitly, no, your character's level does not affect game difficulty. Only being Cursed/Doomed can make the game harder. Game time only affects background corruption rate, which doubles every 90 days. And yes, it is all too easy to accidentally hit a Karmic Anything in melee and not even notice it. Happens all the time :P You might also become Cursed/Doomed from pool-sipping.