I haven't taken on the Barioth expedition yet as I'm cleaning up some optional quests first. I agree with Viper Tobi being the most annoying early encounter, although I think a lot of that is due to not knowing I was going to be fighting him. Poison resistance is easy to gem in. Same with sleep resistance, which completely trivializes Nightshade Paolumu. Coral Pukei-Pukei was a really annoyance for me too, the water blasts are hard to figure out how to dodge for me.
The biggest struggle for me so far was probably the Tempered Banbaro quest to upgrade the vitality mantle. I had no issues at all with regular banbaro, but the tempered version gave me issues.
The biggest struggle for me so far was probably the Tempered Banbaro quest to upgrade the vitality mantle. I had no issues at all with regular banbaro, but the tempered version gave me issues.