Jumping right into things, I've been harassing the silver leucros on Ratha for what seems like an eternity. Two is no problem but a third shows up and I've got to drop a stone berserk to stay alive. Almost seems like my chain mail is useless, really. I just ripped through a swarm of 5 with my main weapons and got from muddled to perplexed. I've heard that bawdy swains can be a possible step up but they swarm far too much for me at the speed I kill them. Haven't tried the hatchlings seriously though I killed a handful once before they took me down.

Should I take the trip all the way back and try marauders and vines? I've tried them once for each of the past 3 circles and I always end up counting the stars. I don't much relish going back out to El Bains to be disappointed again.

And tangentially, is it a mistake to lean on berserks? When I hunt I am berserk between half and 60% of the time. Dances don't have a noticeable enough effect for me to bother (my discipline is pretty low). Is this why my experience seems to move so slowly? . . . or is that "just the way it is?"

I'll not bog this down further with stats beyond circle 23, all skills are around 100, physical stats are 20-ish , while mental ones are mid-teens (wisdom is a bit higher).

Relevant skills (I think?)
Shield Usage: 89 Leather Armor: 99
Light Chain: 75 Heavy Chain: 79
Parry Ability: 114 Multi Opponent: 104
Light Edged: 89 Medium Edged: 106
Heavy Edged: 106 Twohanded Edged: 90
Brawling: 95 Evasion: 100

Stats:
Strength : 26 Reflex : 18
Agility : 19 Charisma : 12
Discipline : 12 Wisdom : 17
Intelligence : 14 Stamina : 22

Figured as much. I guess its back to the mainland then. Leucros are boring me to tears. I've been fighting them for the past three circles and I've had enough.

One of my halfling barbs has very similar ranks. He does pretty well in vines, but I do frequently find more in the room than I really want since he doesn't kill stuff very fast. HE and 2HE may not have been the smartest weapon choices for a halfling barb I guess.

Strength : 14 Reflex : 22
Agility : 27 Charisma : 13
Discipline : 15 Wisdom : 16
Intelligence : 13 Stamina : 22

With the current availability of forged weapons, i.e. the 28 stone bastard swords, HE and 2HE are perfectly fine for a halfling.