Yes same here. This seems to be only fixed enemy that does not respawn, except the statues in town. I wonder if this was a bug or happened intentionally?

I guess the levels are saved to disk now?
In the olden days individual levels were stored in memory, but not saved, so all fixed encounters were reset if you exited and re-entered a level.

I guess the levels might be stored to disk now. But there are lots of fixed enemy encounters throughout all the dungeons, and the (infamous) 396 berserkers encounter seems to be the only one that does not reset.

I suppose that they were removed intentionally to prevent xp-grinding. If that is the case then it was a pretty questionable design decision made for an otherwise pretty nice remastering of the game.

Sad. I remember having to use those Berserkers to grind xp. It was the only fight for several levels that gave a good amount of it and was reasonably possible for a mid-game party, thanks to Mind Blade.

Mangar doesn't respawn either.

On the other hand, you have to reinsert the complete 7 word phrase on level 4 and gain multiple thor figurines but not multiple Spectre Snares.

I read a post on Steam by a dev, stating that that was intentional. With the XP-curve being less harsh, besides "old-time's-sake" we should be fine, despite that. And, in the upcoming "Legacy Mode" you'll be able to grind the Berserkes to your heart's content.

Great thread - answers my question right away. Is there any other good xp grinding/farming advice? I am glad the remake is a bit fairer than the original - especially thanks to the save function - after 12 hours of playing I already made it further than I ever did as a kid, since the game was so unforgiving if you ventured a bit too deep into one of the labyrinths. I remember to have 2 parties, the "main party" and a secondary party, which could farm enough gold to revive the main party, once it failed on it's quest.

You can try the 69 Wights lurking near the stairway at level 3 of the Catacombs. It's the best grind I have found so far -I am now at Mangars-.

That's a pretty sweet spot. Catacombs (say "Tarjan" to temple guards") coordinates: Level 3 4 N 13 E (10K XP+Gold) - but you can only port to the staircase in level 2 (cast teleport 8 11 -1) when you enter the dungeon. On level 3 there are a quite some large groups of undead (also 53 zombies and 99 skeletons) which you all fry with a single repel undead spell (4 SP) or if you don't have it, yet - a single Dragon Breath should do the job.

Or, of course, you can use a Fire Horn.

At least in classic versions, the Fire Horn will do as much damage as Repel Dead, and it is more likely that you will get a new one than it is that your old one will break. (In other words, on average you'll get a net gain of Fire Horns.) Also, the fight is much faster (one quick breath or spell to get 11k experience instead of a long fight for less than 60k, assuming a 6 character party).

With that said, if you want good items, you will need to look further in the game. At least in classic versions, once you get to the second floor of the castle, from there on you're guaranteed to get one item per battle in addition to the random chance per enemy of getting a second, and by the time you reach Mangar's, you will probably never need to worry about running out of breath attacks (which in BT1 are far stronger than spells) ever again.

(Incidentally, I disagree with the decision to make the berserker encounter not respawn, but for different reasons.)

(Yes, I know this is the second reply I've made to this post.)

Again, playing a classic version, and am finding that Mangar's Tower level 1 is also a good place to earn experience, as the battles don't take that long, aren't too difficult (though you'll still want two characters with MIBL and a Fire or Cold Horn), and give some nice treasure (the Mage Staff and I believe Cold Horns, always at least one, sometimes two, per battle).

I agree, Mangar's Tower level 1 is pretty nice for item farming too. But the way you can get into the tower is a little further. As long as you don't have the master key yet that is.

I guess I am just a bit nostalgic about losing the grind on those berserkers ;) Other than that, I have a great time (re-)playing the game.

Of course, if you know where the Master Key is (or can look it up online), you can just teleport there. (For whatever reason, you can't APAR within Mangar 3, but you can APAR into that floor from another floor, assuming the remaster didn't change this.)

Mangar 2 is a good place for getting stronger equipment, but the enemies are a lot stronger than on Mangar 1, so you might not want to do that right away (and I believe there might be at least one level draining enemiy there).

Well, I beat the game (after 30 years first time playing it). I agree with you, first two Mangar Tower levels are best late game grinding area. I literally put some demons to rest.

Now, that I am finished there actually is quite little replaying motivation. I hope for the sequel to be released soon. For all I experienced you can actually APAR through the first 3 levels of the tower, as you mentioned.