^Ah, the desert palace. When I was 12 (I think), I was stuck there for some three months because I made the mistake of putting all of my strongest characters on the team that I sent to investigate that one dungeon. I got thoroughly pwned almost consistently from that point forward because all that was left were the goddamn mages and the palace itself was full of powerful enemies. I should also note that I was horrible at leveling up back then, so I mostly got my ass kicked up and down the place. Urgh.
Every playthrough since then has been a totally different story, thank god.
