I wish the industry wasnt like this, but has been since ...well last many years.
In the end I guess the producers figure they make money by getting their games out there faster and then patch post-release rather than do a longer more thorough beta-test.
It's sad, but it seems to me you are right. This game wasn't perfectly polished when it was released... I guess they couldn't wait anymore, but it's surprising to see that when their KS was a big success, and that the game was in early access... Why going "gold" then from early access when you are not fully ready for it?
[...] the enemy does pathetic damage. [...] (the NPC was saying - you are still too green for here), lol.
Even then it was okish, nothing special, but still interesting, and that's 2-3 lvls above. Granted, that with leveling up and gearing it's normal and ok and good that you feel stronger and stronger, but that means that the game should have more zones in which mobs are higher than your level where you can get a challenge.
It looks like the player development goes too far ahead of zones where you are and there is no challenge left.
In fact, as you say, it is simple :
In the hardest difficulty setting, the mobs should be buffed, and the actual level 10 should have mobs' level 12 or 13 stats.
Actually, the game is poorly balanced. It should have stayed a challenge (in its hardest level) for players like you and me. And if we couldn't beat it, we would still have 2 easier levels to find the right difficulty.
