After clearing Nokron, which took a surprisingly long time thanks to the dual Gargoyle boss fight (ended up having to trick the first one into jumping off the waterfall edge right next to the entrance), the next stop was the Alteus Plateau/Mt. Gelmir area.
These two areas are basically one and are overall quite a bit easier than Caelid. The strange thing is that to get here properly though, you have to either pick up the Medallion half from Caelid’s Fort Faroth, or defeat a Magma Wyrm boss tougher than the Gael Tunnel version. The only things really worth noting about this area, difficulty-wise, are the Full-Grown Fallingstar Beast (which is tricky since the battle takes place on a mountaintop) and the Shaded Castle location… although I did skip Rykard for quest-related reasons.
I also ended up killing that previously skipped Crystalian trio while finishing Sellen‘s quest. Mimic Ashes +7 with Nightrider Flail +13 was enough, particularly after I realized that the mage could be backstabbed to interrupt its spells. When all that was said and done I was level 102 (Vig 39, End 25, Str 12, Dex 50, Fai 15, Arc 20) with Reduvia +9, Great Knife +17, Eleonora’s Poleblade +6, Nightrider Flail +14, Serpent Bow +6, and Fanged Imp/Jellyfish/Ancestral Follower Ashes +7.
Leyndell was up next since I’d assumed it would be easier than the Noskella or Deeproot Depths sidequest locations.
There isn’t much of note in the outskirts besides the dual Crucible Knight boss fight. Notable mostly because it was far easier than I thought it’d be: Summoned the Greatshield Soldiers and Rotten Breathed them mostly to death on the first try.
Inside the city proper (which is lain out similar to a legacy dungeon) there’s quite a bit to discover, but nothing all that challenging to defeat as far as combat goes. The challenge here mostly lies in both not getting lost and completing a platforming puzzle in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds if you want a particular ending. Was level 113 (Vig 40, Fai 20, Arc 25) at the end of it all with the following upgrades over the previously listed equipment: Great Knife +20, Eleonora’s Poleblade +7, Nightrider Flail +17, Fanged Imp/Greatshield Ashes +9, and Mimic/Ancestral Follower/Jellyfish Ashes +8.
So now I’m on my way to (hopefully) clear out those aforementioned sidequest areas before heading through the Forbidden Lands.