point 1)
there is 1 minimod that let you avoid random encounter if you train your mount just once, playing the mini game in one of your cities just once

point 2)
there is a minimod that force everything related to the golems to appear later, i am not sure but probably affects random encounters too.

(the first time you acquire a mount, train it at least once and you skip random encounter with the minimod placed in the Patches folder)

you need: Patch122a - monster (mod) [mount skill boost].zip
and: Patch122b - monster (mod) [mount skill boost] [easy avoid] [0HPL][need 122a].zip

Originally posted by Gaunter O'Dimm:

It's not balanced at all. It's overtuned af. I ended up downloading a nerf file from https://www.moddb.com/mods/puzzle-quest-legends-for-pc/downloads on my last playthrough. There's also one that nerfs the Mana Node item in general.

dude, you are suggesting to download a file from 2022

there is a better way:

files needed to be placed in the Patches folder in the correct order:
1) Puzzle Quest The Legend Returns 178mb
2) Puzzle Quest Mysteries of the Dream Lord 2mb
3) hotfix for the megamod unofficial dlc 1mb

https://www.nexusmods.com/puzzlequestchallengeofthewarlords/mods/1?tab=files

---

in the megamod the spells have been cost balanced, also some spells have been improved:

regeneration spells, like the one used by the straw golem, have a cooldown of 1 turn, so they can heal once every 2 turns.

on top of that 6 profession got enhanced with 18 spells in their spellbook:
elementalist, wizard, bard, monk, bloodmage, druid
(playing using other professions would be a disadvantage for the player)

since Dank decided to use the Bloodmage, this profession has been enhanced with new spells... and it would be perfect to use it against the monsters using the modded spells.

***
here are some tips on the enhanced bloodmage:

Bloodmage: mana discounted spellcaster. Unique Traits: sacrifice life to cast spells and force opponent to share the pain. Status Effects: Delirium, Drowning, Parasitic Link, Soul Bond, Stun, Blind, Fear
01) SBBT, Blood Bolt {dmg}
02) S9CB, Channel Blood(Channel Fire) {rmanashift}
03) SLDR, Life Drain {dmg} + {heal}
04) S9CM, Crimson Malediction {self hex status transfer} + {oppo buff status transfer}
05) S9MF, Mana Feast {amanafeast}
06) S9DR, Dark Ritual: {1 rnd batgem into rs5gem} + {morskillgain} + {heal}
07) SIFE, [Suffocating] Infection {delirium(infection)} + {drowning}
08) SDES, Desiccate {(y and) bmanadrain}
09) SBBO, Blood Boil {dmg}
10) S9PL, Parasitic Link {parasitic link}
15) SNUL, Nullify {destroy item}
20) S9BC, Blood Call(Bloodlust) [{life gain}] + {rmanashift}
25) S9PB, Piercing Blood {eresrend}
30) SSBO, Soul Bond {share self pain buff}
35) SNMR, Nightmare {stun} + {blind} + {fear}
40) SBLS, Blood Storm {cungems and morgems into batgems} + {[cunskill]} + {[morskill]}
45) SSAC, Sacrifice {dmg}
50) STRF, Transfusion {amanagain} {[exhaustion]} {[mana boon]}
..) S3CB, Channel Blood {rmanashift}
..) S3BR, Blood Rage {dmg}

bloodmage tips:
playing this profession there are 3 distinct phases (at first blood sacrifice spells seems a little subpar and there is a need to be careful when to cast them, then after acquiring blood bond they become better stronger)
(ultimately blood sacrifice spells acquired toward the end are so powerful, that using blood bond is not required to make them competitive)

blood bond forces the opponent to lose as much life as the caster is sacrificing hitpoints to cast the spell, the enemy life cannot go lower than the caster's life, while the caster is sacrificing his blood

the bloodmage has some spells that do not consume hitpoints to cast them, other spells still require a blood sacrifice but offer the opportunity to regain the lost hitpoints if a certain condition is met

blood bolt effect has been modified to better mimic all bolt spells: now it is a combination of its original effect (diminished) with the typical bolt spell magical effect
channel blood gives an opportunity to use the unique blood sacrifice mechanic in the already used "channel fire" spell and it comboes with life drain
crimson malediction, a new spell for the bloodmage, let the profession switch negative status effects on self for positive status effect on the opponent (a blood sacrifice is needed)
mana feast is a spell that drains the opponent mana, costs no mana to cast, cannot be resisted, and gives an opportunity to negate the penalty of the blood sacrifice regaining all the lost hitpoints
dark ritual is a risky new spell, it does require a blood sacrifice but the caster may end up with more life instead or less after the spell is cast, the drawback is that the enemy may gain a redskull to combo or destroy
suffocating infection is a modified spell, it gives a modified version of drowning and infection status effects (also infection status effect is renamed as delirium)
desiccate spell loses the ability to drain yellow mana, and it becomes a mirrored version of wizard heatsink spell, with the difference that it does cost less mana to cast, and now requires a blood sacrifice
blood boil spell has been boosted, now it may use the highest red mana reserve among all players to determine the amount of damage done, instead of using only the opponent's red mana reserve (blood sacrifice is no longer used)
parasitic link is a new spell that works like a repeating version of life drain, although the quantity of life lost by the enemy is usually different from the quantity of life gained by the caster
nullify spell is like the original, except for the fact that now has got a mana cost and cooldown rebalance
blood call is a new spell inspired by bloodlust from the warrior, except that now it is mostly used to gain back the life lost from another spell cast that used blood sacrifice, this spell may give red mana
piercing blood is a new spell that helps lowering enemy spell resistance, it costs no mana, it mimics the effect of the original blood bolt spell, its power wanes the more damaged is the caster
sould bond is a very powerful spell that helps dragging down the enemy in the abyss along with the selfharming and selfdestructing blood magic spellcaster.
nightmare spell is very similar to the original, both mana cost and cooldown have been rebalanced, along with the effect of the fear status effect
bloodstorm is a very powerful spell, that now also has an effect similar to life drain with the difference that now there is also a double skillgain
sacrifice is similar to its original form, it can now benefit from soulbond status effect
transfusion is similar to its original form, mana cost and cooldown are now balanced with the power of the spell (which is half of its original power)

Wow Nixos, thank you very much for this extremely thorough reply. I'll check out these further patches.

The straw golem is BUSTED powerful. I had to wait until way later in the game to cheese it with my own busted spells.

Originally posted by Kev:

The straw golem is BUSTED powerful. I had to wait until way later in the game to cheese it with my own busted spells.

what i did previously to lower its power was to:
1) nerf mana node (wood golem)
2) nerf regeneration spells to only heal 4hp each time, and then gain 1 turn cooldown
--
in the last patch i cut down bronze golem max resist to 50% for each color (and gave this cap to all resistance increase spells) also i capped morale skill on the bronze golem resulting in its hitpoints drop from about 200hp to 100hp (this way it should not stay so much more powerful than the fleshgolem and irongolem that come after)