the power scope in d&d 5e is off the charts. seriously, the first time i ran this campaign it was with 3 players and at level 5, my current 4 players are far exceeding what those 3 players were able to take on at level 8. i've had to jack up HP values and give monsters extra attacks on top of that.

they wiped out an orc encampment so easily that two of the PCs never even got touched. granted, they had the fodder of helper NPCs and one of them sort of took on the brunt of things, but it still nuts to me because these guys have effectively skipped two whole arcs of the campaign by going to a different location and i have had to INCREASE monster stats.