I just reached the point where you're allowed to play online. My first outing with randoms was fun, reminds me of old 4-player arcade games where people would come and go. Question for experienced players though--does the game get more difficult? Does what gear you bring matter more as things move forward?

At first I was choosy about what gear I'd equip but until this point I've largely just discarded lower-level equipment for higher-level, without considering the actual attributes such as extra damage or defense against natural/undead/spells, etc. I hope gear plays a more critical part as the game goes on as you have the ability to change sets at certain points in a level.

There are two difficulty levels past the initial one, and it does indeed get a lot more difficult

No kidding. Finished the game and immediately jumped back in. The Minotaur was a quarter muncher.

Additional quests that unlock in the higher difficulties do not seem to be require you to do them on said difficulty levels, which seems like an oversight.